


Nothing Else Matters

by LadyWallace



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Everyone gets whumped at least once, Gabriel is back from the dead, Gen, Helpful Rowena, Hiatus fic, Hurt Dean, Jack has angst, Let's rescue Dean, Michael!Dean, No Slash, Post Season 13, Powerless Jack, Protective Castiel, Protective Sam, everyone also has some angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-05-30 05:42:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15090236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyWallace/pseuds/LadyWallace
Summary: Lucifer may be dead, but Dean, possessed by Michael, is in the wind, Jack has lost his powers, and it's up to Sam to put his family back together, starting with getting his brother home. A Post S13 Save Dean fic.





	1. Chapter 1

Sam stared at the empty spot where his brother had been only second before, disbelief and horror mixing with the adrenaline rush from witnessing Lucifer's death at long last. He almost couldn't believe what he had just seen. One minute Dean had been standing there holding the bloody archangel blade and then he had been fighting back Michael before the archangel had ultimately gained control and then taken his brother off to god knows where.

"Sam."

The quiet voice beside him reminded him suddenly of the boy, trembling and bloody, standing beside him, hunched over, one hand curled protectively around his wound.

"Jack," Sam said and instantly turned back to him, touching his shoulder. "Hold on."

Jack sniffed and folded over a little more. "It hurts," he whispered, as if not sure what else to say.

He started to collapse then and Sam caught him, easing the boy down so that they were both sitting against the wall of the church. Truthfully, Sam was in a lot of pain as well from the beatings Lucifer and Michael both had dealt him. But Jack was bleeding from the self-inflicted wound, and Sam quickly pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and pressed it to the hole in Jack's shirt, positioning Jack's hand over it and keeping his own over top for extra pressure.

"You'll be okay. It's not that bad," Sam assured him.

"But Dean…" Jack whispered.

"We'll get him back," Sam said firmly. "We will."

Jack leaned more heavily against him and Sam wrapped his arm around the boy before he pulled his phone out and called Cas, hand trembling as he thought about what he had to say.

The phone picked up almost immediately.

"Sam?" Cas' breathless voice came over the line.

"Cas," Sam said. "It…it's over."

"Lucifer?" Cas asked.

"Dead," Sam assured him.

"And Dean?" the question came so hesitantly, Sam bit his lip to bleeding before he answered.

"He's gone, Cas," he said helplessly. "Look, just…Jack is hurt, can you come get us?"

He sounded so pathetic to his own ears but he couldn't really care at the moment, and he knew Cas wouldn't judge him for it.

There was a long silence on the other end, before Cas finally heaved a breath. "Okay…okay, Sam, I'll get the GPS coordinates and be there soon."

"Thanks, Cas," Sam whispered and ended the call. Then he simply wrapped him arms back around Jack and the two sat there in silence, waiting for the rest of their family to come for them.

Sam wasn't sure how long it was before the door to the church burst open and footsteps pounded toward them.

"Sam!"

The hunter finally looked up and saw Cas and his mom running toward them. They both halted to stare at Lucifer's dead body for a moment before continuing on toward Sam and Jack.

"Sam, Jack," Mom cried as Sam stood, drawing the nephillim up with him, and allowed her to throw her arms around him, hands searching for injuries in the same way Dean always did.

Cas had Jack pressed against his chest, chin resting on his head as the boy's shoulders shook and the four of them moved together into a tight knot, arms folding around each other almost instinctively. Sam just held his family close, heartbroken at the member they were missing.

Jack let out a muffled cry of pain then, and Mom turned to him and reached out to touch his bruised face and gently maneuver him toward one of the church pews that hadn't been destroyed in the fight.

"Come on, Jack, sit down," Mom said softly.

Sam and Cas were left standing there, and they slowly met eyes and Sam's filled with tears again at the sight of the hopelessness and pain in Cas'.

"We lost him, Cas," Sam whispered, his jaw trembling. "Dean's gone."

Cas shook his head, pressing his knuckles to his mouth. "I should have done more to stop him. I should not have let him do this."

"Cas, you know how stubborn Dean is," Sam sighed. "This isn't on you."

"But I knew Michael would never honor the agreement," Cas growled, running his hands over his face.

Sam shook his head. "I'm sure Dean did too." He glanced over at Lucifer's corpse again, biting his lip. He still felt relief at the simple fact that his tormentor would never again cause anyone pain. He knew what Dean had sacrificed for that to happen. He knew well enough why Dean had said yes.

"Boys," Mom called to them softly. "We can't help Dean just sitting around here. And Jack needs to be home. We all do."

Sam swallowed hard and nodded. He gripped Cas' shoulder tightly and the angel turned back to Jack and Mom who had the boy tucked against her side. She'd cleaned the blood from his face, but Jack still had tear tracks down his cheeks.

"Agreed," Sam said and the four of them trooped out of the church toward Mom's waiting car, and climbed in. Castiel slid in beside Jack in the backseat and the boy slumped against him, hand still curled protectively around his wound. Sam turned around.

"Cas," he said softly. "Jack, um, Jack can't heal himself anymore."

Cas' eyes widened in realization and turned back to Jack. "Oh, Jack, I'm so sorry, I didn't think…" he touched the boy's forehead and with a soft glow, Jack gasped and clutched at his chest. His shirt was still bloody, but Sam knew his wound had been healed. Sam swallowed hard as the boy simply collapsed back against Cas' side, eyes closed. Sam didn't know whether he was asleep or just in shock. He met Cas' eyes and the angel gave a pained, worried look. Sam swallowed hard. Yeah, the kid was going to need a lot of care after this.

It turned out they weren't more than a couple hours from the bunker, which Sam was grateful for because he just wanted to be home right now, wanted to make sure his family was safe. It was the only thing he could do with Dean in the wind, bodynapped by Michael. It was a nightmare Sam hadn't dreamed of in years. Obviously, he had thought they were over that part of their lives, saying yes, Dean being the Michael Sword…Sam couldn't believe it really had come to pass after all. Even after all these years.

They all trooped inside, seeming heavy. None of the refugees were left there, Mom told him that Bobby had taken them away, since the bunker seemed no longer safe. Sam felt a pang at that, but nodded in understanding. After all, Michael had found them there, and had gotten past the warding to get inside. He didn't blame them if they didn't feel safe.

Jack didn't say a word, and just slipped away to the dormitory ward. Sam and Cas shared a look.

"Let him have a moment," Mom said softly, touching Sam's arm. "He's been through a lot."

Cas nodded in understanding. "More than he should have ever had to. And I know what it feels like to lose your powers so violently. Even though Jack was already half human, it can't be easy for him."

Sam felt his heart clench again. "We're gonna get him through this. We're all gonna get through this," he said, and wondered if it was mostly for his own benefit.

Mom ran her hand down his arm kindly, and then nodded toward the kitchen. "I'm going to make something to eat. Jack could use a hot meal."

Sam nodded, thankful to have his mother back. "Sounds good."

Cas turned to him once she had left. "Sam, are you okay?"

Sam ran his hands down his face. "I don't know. No, definitely not, because Dean had been kidnapped by a genocidal archangel, but…hell, Cas, if I'm not at least relieved Lucifer is gone for good."

Cas nodded. "I am definitely in agreement on that." He turned toward the dormitory ward. "I think we should go talk to Jack."

Sam nodded and followed the angel toward the nephillim's room.

Sam knocked on the door. "Jack?" he called.

There was no answer, so he pushed open the door anyway.

They found Jack standing there bare-chested, in the process of changing his clothes, just looking down at his chest, fingers running over the spot he had forced the dagger into his flesh. Since Cas had healed him, there was no scar there, but still, Sam realized that had been the first time he had been hurt where he couldn't just heal himself instantly. Jack was probably in shock.

"Jack," Cas said with a soft sigh as he walked over and settled a hand on the boy's shoulder. "How are you doing?"

Jack simply turned away, grabbing a long sleeved shirt and pulling it on slowly before he climbed onto the bed and sat against the pillows, knees pulled up to his chest. Cas glanced back at Sam and the hunter stepped forward, sitting down on the side of the bed to face Jack.

"Jack, hey," he began. "Talk to us."

Jack shook his head, arms hugging his knees more firmly. "What can I even say?" he asked helplessly. "This is all my fault."

"Jack, you can't blame yourself for this," Cas said, sitting on the other side of the bed.

"But it is my fault!" Jack cried, eyes shining wetly with unshed tears. "I failed to kill Michael to begin with. And I…I didn't listen to you when you warned me about Lucifer. And you were right. All of you were right." He buried his face against his knees, voice choking off.

"Jack, look," Sam said. "He was your father, it was natural for you to be curious."

"And, perhaps, part of it was our fault as well," Cas admitted, glancing toward Sam. "After all, we told you Lucifer was evil, but we never really gave you any specifics. We never tried to explain to you why and what he was really like."

"Exactly," Sam added, knowing Cas was right. "All you saw was him trying to be your friend; bringing…bringing me back." He swallowed hard, that whole horrible scene still haunting his memory. "But he did that on purpose, just to make you trust him."

"He said…" Jack sniffed, glancing back up at Sam and the angel. "He said we could see the stars. That he would take me to other galaxies. I thought it would be amazing, like…being in Star Wars." Sam hated the look of utter hatred and betrayal on Jack's face, but was also glad it was not directed at him or Cas. "But all he wanted to do was get away so Michael could destroy the world. I was such an idiot to believe him."

"We've all been idiots," Cas said with a wry look. "I was the angel who trusted Metatron and ended up casting all of my brothers and sisters to earth."

"Look, Jack, being trusting is not a bad thing," Sam said. "In fact, it's really a good thing, but you have to know who you can trust."

Jack looked between the two of them, still sniffing but seeming to relax a little. "I think I do now."

Sam smiled and settled a hand on his shoulder, rubbing gently. "And we're here for you. Never forget that."

"We're your family," Cas added.

There was a soft knock on the door and Mom poked her head in.

"If you boys are hungry, I made soup and sandwiches," she said.

Sam squeezed Jack's shoulder again. "Come on, you should eat something."

Jack didn't look very excited, but his stomach gurgled anyway, and so he sighed and slid off the bed. Cas caught his arm on the way out the door.

"Jack, I know what you're going through, losing your powers like that…it won't be easy. But I think you'll be okay."

"And we're here to support you. Just never forget that," Sam added.

Jack gave him a watery smile, and then followed Mom out of the room as she ushered him gently with a hand on his back.

Sam glanced over to Cas. "How do you think he's doing?" he asked quietly.

The angel shrugged helplessly. "I think he's still working through it. Though at least he was already half human, so it's not as drastic a change as when I lost my grace."

"But he is…completely human now? There aren't any of his powers left?"

"I don't think so," Cas said softly. "And with Lucifer dead…there's no way to get them back."

Sam bit his lip. He wasn't sure how Jack truly felt about losing his powers and he didn't really want to broach the subject right now when the boy was still in shock. Besides, to the rest of them, it didn't matter if he was powered up or not, he was still Jack, he was still their family. He just might be more vulnerable and need a little more fight training if he was going to continue on hunts with them.

And of course, their main problem right now was tracking down the genocidal archangel who had stolen Sam's brother before he decided to destroy the world.

"Come on, let's go get something to eat," Sam told Cas. "Then we need to discuss what to do about Dean and Michael."

Cas nodded in agreement and the two of them continued on their way to the kitchen.

They found Jack sitting at the table with Mom placing a steaming bowl of soup in front of him, and a plate of grilled cheese sandwiches for everyone.

"Come on, both of you, before it gets cold," Mom said. "You too, Castiel."

Sam and Cas were on their way to the table when the sound of the bunker door opening startled all four of them. Sam and Cas both drew weapons instantly and Sam held up his hand to his mom and Jack. "Stay here."

"Sam," Mom protested, but he and Cas were already moving into the war room.

Sam's heart was pounding, afraid that it might be Michael back to kill all of them and using Dean's body to do it.

However, it was a completely unexpected face that he saw as the visitor stepped up to the railing and leaned over it with a cocky smile.

"Hey fellas. Miss me?"

"Gabriel!" Sam and Cas cried at the same time.

~~~~~~~

It felt like being crushed, like he was wrapped in a hundred yards of rope and whoever had the end was yanking him away viciously, shoving him down, and there was nothing he could do to fight it off, no matter how much he struggled.

Dean blinked and he was in a dark room, with no discerning features. He spun around, looking for any way out and then began to run in one direction, slamming into a wall. He threw himself at it again and again, but it was no use. There was no way out.

"Don't bother. You're not getting the upper hand, Dean."

Dean spun around to see Michael standing in front of him; the archangel was smirking, hands clasped behind his back.

"You son of a bitch," Dean snarled, fists clenching. "We had a deal! One time only, remember? Now get the hell out! I revoke my permission."

"Oh, you're going to have to try a lot harder to get me out," Michael said, obviously pleased with himself. "After all, you are my true vessel. And I gotta admit, it feels very nice in here. So much better fit than my old ones."

Dean growled and lunged toward the archangel, only to have Michael snag him by the front of his coat and slam him to the ground. Dean hit hard, rolling, and coming back up to lunge again.

Michael's fist met his stomach in a punishing blow and Dean folded as the archangel used his downward momentum to slam his knee into Dean's face. Dean collapsed on the ground, groaning.

"It's almost amusing that you think you can beat me," Michael said, kicking Dean onto his back before he leaned over and wrenched the hunter back onto his knees.

"Well, this is my own body," Dean grunted. "And no means no."

Michael gave him an amused look. "Come on, Dean. You knew what you were getting into when you said yes. You had to know you weren't going to walk out of there without a permanent passenger."

Dean glowered up at him. Yeah, he'd figured on it, but he hadn't expected Michael to be so damn strong. Sam had been able to gain control over Lucifer, after all, maybe it was his fault for thinking it couldn't be that hard with a little determination.

"If you think I'm gonna just let you destroy the world, you're wrong," Dean said, climbing to his feet again. "I didn't kill Lucifer just for you to be the next up-and-coming big bad. I know you're new around here, but Sam and I, we kinda have a track record for destroying people like you."

"So I gathered from what Lucifer told me," Michael said, cocking his head to one side. "Which is why I'm not going to take any chances with you."

Dean couldn't dodge in time as Michael slammed a punishing blow into the side of his face. He dropped, and the archangel kicked him viciously in the ribs several times before Dean attempted to roll out of the way. Then, Michael simply picked him up, slammed his fist several more times into Dean's face and threw him across the room to smash into the dark wall.

Dean crumpled onto the ground, blood in his mouth, body singing with pain. He weakly tried to fend off Michael as the archangel crouched in front of him.

"I'm in charge here, Dean," Michael told him darkly. "And I think you'd do well to remember that I don't need you in here to occupy this vessel. So I would behave if I were you."

"You son of a bitch," Dean slurred, then felt panic set in as Michael grabbed his arm, clamping something cold and hard around his wrist. Dean heard the clank of chains and tried to struggle upright but Michael had already clamped a manacle around his other wrist too.

"No!" Dean growled and surged upright just as Michael stepped back with a satisfied smirk. Dean yanked at the chains that held him against the wall. "You bastard! I will kill you! I will throw you out of this body and stab you in the neck!"

"Whatever makes you feel better, Dean," Michael said patronizingly. "Now, be a good meatsuit. I've got a lot to do and I'm not gonna take kindly to any distractions."

"Michael!" Dean shouted after the archangel's retreating back, yanking at his chains so hard his wrists bled. But it was no use. He was chained good and tight.

Dean finally slumped back against the wall, hands dangling on either side of his head, and tried to think about what the hell he was going to do to fix this.


	2. Chapter 2

"Gabriel!" Sam and Cas both exclaimed at once as the archangel moved toward the stairs and clanked down them. Mom and Jack had joined them by now and were staring in shock at the new arrival.

"Is it really…?" Mom asked hesitantly, glancing toward Cas.

"Yes, it is," Cas replied and stepped forward as Gabriel reached the floor, instantly pulling his brother into a firm embrace.

Gabriel gave a soft grunt, patting Cas on the back. "Oof, easy little bro, still not a hundred percent here."

Cas pushed him backwards with a frown, though still held his shoulders. "But…how are you here? Sam and Dean said…"

"Yeah, yeah, they saw me get stabbed in the heart. Remember how that took last time, Samsquatch?" Gabriel cocked an eyebrow, but rubbed at his chest with a cringe. "Unfortunately, since I'm not exactly on the top of my game right now making a fake was out of the question, so I had to take one for the team."

"Then how are you alive?" Sam demanded. "That was the archangel blade!"

"Or was it?" Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows. "I may not be able to throw out an illusion right now, but I can still switch out a dagger. That just takes a little slight of hand." He wiggled his fingers with a smirk. "Plus my superb acting skills. Still blacked out for a bit there though, woke up just as another rift was closing and dove through. Had to find a place to heal before I could make it back here. I'm guessing Michael and Lucifer got through."

Gabriel glanced around at them and Sam knew he wasn't able to hide his expression. Cas glanced at him and then turned back to Gabriel who seemed to have picked up on the tension in the room. He frowned, and zeroed in on Jack.

"Hold on, what's up with the kid?" he asked as Mom moved closer to Jack and settled a hand on his back. "And where's Dean, anyway?"

Sam took a deep breath. "You're a little late for the fight," was all he managed to say.

Gabriel frowned. "So it's…already over? Come on then, spill. What happened?"

"Lucifer is dead," Sam said, and hell, saying that out loud would never get old. "But Michael's still out there," Cas added, glancing at Sam. "We've got a lot to talk about."

They moved to the kitchen to inform Gabriel about everything that had happened, though none of them had much of an appetite anymore. Except Gabriel that is, who found what was left of a half-gallon of ice cream in the freezer and began to shovel it into his mouth.

"You know, if you bozos ever come out of a fight without any repercussions I think the world actually would end," Gabriel snarked, pointing his spoon at Sam. "I know at one point I was all for Dean saying yes to Michael, but I've gotten over that. Especially when we're talking about an alternate Mad Max universe version who's even more of a genocidal maniac."

"Look, we know this is bad," Cas cut in. "What we need is a way to get Michael out of Dean."

"But we have to find him first," Sam added, rubbing a hand through his hair.

"Well, I can probably track him down," Gabriel said. "That's gonna be the easy part. Finding a way to get the assmonkey out of your brother though...that's gonna be a whole other can of worms."

"What if…Cas, when I was possessed by Gadreel, you were able to clue me in and I was able to force Michael out," Sam said.

Cas sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "Sam, Crowley was able to go in, like he did with me when I was possessed by Lucifer because he didn't need permission. Now we don't have that option, and I don't think there's going to be another demon willing to help us. Besides, Dean knows he's possessed, it's obviously a problem with him being unable to evict Michael at all, otherwise, he would have done it when you said he was fighting against Michael back at that church."

Sam sighed but nodded in agreement. "Okay, but, I was able to fight Lucifer's hold at Stull Cemetery. It was hard, like, nearly impossible, but I was able to do it. And Dean…if anyone has a chance, he does. So if he couldn't fight him off already, then…what?"

Gabriel set the empty ice cream carton aside. "Look from what I know about this alternate universe Michael, he's just like ours, but even more of a dick. Which means, he's gonna have his claws deep in Dean."

"Which means?" Mom asked.

Gabriel pursed his lips grimly. "Which means that Mike has probably made safeguards so that Dean can't just eject him."

"Is that even possible, for an angel to do that?" Sam asked.

"It's not easy, but it's not impossible either," Gabriel told him.

Cas heaved a weary sigh. "Then what do we do? If Michael has Dean trapped in there…Dean will make trouble for him, and Michael doesn't necessarily need him to occupy his body now that he has consent."

Sam's stomach turned sharply at Cas' words, but he knew the angel was right. He saw Mom's hands clench against the tabletop, her mouth parted in horror.

Gabriel nodded. "Exactly why we need to find them sooner rather than later." He reached into his jacket. "And if all else fails…we can trick Michael into leaving a dying vessel." He pulled out the archangel blade and put it in the middle of the table like a death knell.

Sam clenched his jaw and looked away.

"You can't be serious?" Mom demanded.

"Gabriel…" Cas started, but Sam cut him off.

"No, he's right," he said, swallowing hard. He hated it, he really did, but if it was their only shot… "It's our last resort, though, not the first. We'll find another way."

Jack, who had been silent up to that point, suddenly pushed away from the table. "I'm going to bed," he said softly and nearly ran from the room.

The hunters and the angels all shared long looks. Gabriel cautiously cocked his head toward the door.

"Is the kid okay?" he asked.

"No," Cas replied with a long sigh. "None of us, are." He stood, turning to Sam and Mom. "You two should get some rest while you can. Gabriel and I will search through the archives, see if there's anything that can help us get Dean back."

Sam wanted to protest, he knew he wasn't going to sleep that night, but at the same time, he knew Cas was right. Running himself into the ground was not going to help Dean at all.

"Alright," Sam sighed heavily, running a hand over his eyes. "But if you dig anything up, let me know."

"We will," Cas assured him, giving him one last pained look before Sam slipped away from the table, making sure his mom was doing the same before he followed her to the dormitory ward.

He went first to take a shower, and when he had finished, he passed Jack's room on the way to his own, and stopped at the door. He hesitated a moment before he gripped the doorknob and opened it quietly. He half expected Jack to be awake, but was surprised to see the boy actually asleep, curled into a ball on his side.

Sam went to exit the room quietly, but as he began to close the door, Jack twitched and whimpered, hands fisting in the sheets.

"N-no!" he mumbled. "Father, don't please! Stop!"

Sam hurried into the room and settled a hand on Jack's shoulder, rubbing gently. "Jack, easy, easy, you're safe. Lucifer's gone."

Jack didn't wake up, but he did seem to calm slightly. Sam gently brushed his hair back before straightening up again, and pulling the blanket further over Jack's shoulders. He bit his lip, and finally turned toward the door, leaving it slightly ajar. He hurried to his room and sank down onto the foot of his bed, burying his face in his hands as he took a shuddering breath.

It seemed like years ago now that he and Dean had discussed the possibility of retirement. Sam had seen the longing on his brother's face, and hell, he wouldn't say no, if, as Dean said, they knew the world was safe. And now look what had happened. The world was on the brink of coming to an end again, the youngest member of their family was falling apart, and Sam had lost his brother again.

Why did everything always have to fall apart just when things seemed like they were getting better again?

~~~~~~~

Michael stood bare-chested in front of the mirror in the motel bathroom. The place was a squalid human dump, the kind he saw frequently in Dean Winchester's memories—those the hunter hadn't locked away from him, anyway. The human hunter had led a pitiable life, for that matter. Just one hunt after another, followed by excessive drinking and sex with countless women of no consequence. If anything, Michael was doing him a favor.

He raised the blade to his chest, on the opposite side of where Dean's anti-possession tattoo was and began to carve the sigil into his vessel's flesh. It stung a little because he used the archangel blade, but it would assure that Sam Winchester and his friends wouldn't be able to pull him from Dean's body.

Michael smirked to himself in the mirror as he finished and the sigil healed, becoming a fresh scar. He turned to grab a crisp dress shirt that he had purchased along with a much more elegant wardrobe than the hunter had possessed and began to dress. He had a lot of work to do.

Starting with a visit to Heaven.

Back in his world, Heaven had been a distant memory. A long forgotten relic of a bygone era after the war when he had his men had made permanent camp on earth to better subjugate the humans and keep them in line. From what Lucifer had told him, the Heaven here wasn't much to write home about anymore either, but a few more followers to do his bidding would not go awry.

Once he finished dressing, he turned inward and strode toward the small pocket room he had locked Dean away in. The hunter was still chained, but he glared up at Michael defiantly when he entered.

"What do you want?" Dean demanded, pulling himself into a more upright position.

Michael stopped right in front of him, folding his arms over his chest. "I want to know where the portal to Heaven is."

Dean snorted. "Look, not that I give a crap about those flying dicks, but I'm not gonna be the one to lead you to killing the last angels alive. Going to Hell on the other hand, well, that you can do."

Michael shot a hand forward and took Dean around the throat, raising him up so that his chains pulled taught and wrenched his arms behind him. "Do not labor under the delusion that I am playing games. The only reason I have left you alive is because you have useful information. But the second I decide you're too much trouble, I will find a more permanent way to deal with you, and turn to one of your companions for the information I seek. Perhaps your brother or your pet angel would be more forthcoming."

Dean glowered at him even as Michael choked him out. "I said…" Dean grunted. "You can go. To. Hell."

Michael sneered and threw the Winchester back against the wall. Dean collapsed on his side with a rattle of chains and Michael stepped forward, keeping him down with a boot shoved into his ribs.

"Your form here might be an illusion that your human mind creates to make sense of your current incorporeality. However…" He slammed his foot down and there was the delicious sound of snapping ribs. Dean released a breathless scream. "The pain is real."

Dean still glowered at him, even though he was wheezing from the pain. "You're gonna…have to do…a lot worse to…get me to…talk."

"Or I can skip that part," Michael said, crouching down and reaching out to grip a fist of Dean's hair, yanking his head back. "I can always take what I want by force. You belong to me now, and you're good at locking away your memories, especially the ones you don't want me to see, but I can find them all the same." Michael shifted his hands so both were gripping the sides of Dean's head, seeing the human's eyes widen with just a little fear. "Just a warning…it's gonna hurt."

He closed his eyes and shoved inside Dean's mind. The human let out a scream of pure agony. He fought against the intrusion, but Michael was far stronger and tore down his defenses almost instantly. He rooted through pointless memories until he found the one he wanted. A children's playground. Sigils in the sandbox. A bright light…

Michael pulled back and released Dean before he stood. The hunter collapsed with a thud on the ground, completely unconscious. Good. He'd been driving Michael insane with his incessant scratching. It would be so much easier to deal with his meeting with the angels if he didn't have Dean buzzing like a gnat in the back of his mind.

He left the room and resurfaced in the vessel, still standing in front of the mirror. He checked his new suit, stowed his blade up his sleeve and then left the dingy motel to head to the portal to Heaven.

~~~~~~~

Castiel sighed heavily as he sat down with another large volume, dropping the book onto the table. Their options did not look good, considering it had taken Sam and Dean a long time to find that exorcism for when Lucifer was possessing him and it still hadn't worked and it wasn't just because he hadn't been willing to eject Lucifer at that moment.

"Cas, you know that we won't really know what we're doing until we see what kind of hold Michael has over him," Gabriel said, looking up from the Men of Letters file he was flipping through.

"I know," Cas said sharply, and stopped to rub a hand over his face, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I…I should have done more to stop him. I could have…I could have let Michael use me instead."

Gabriel stared at him blandly. "You really think Dean would have let you do that after the whole Lucifer debacle I heard about? And Michael never would have agreed to that, not when his true vessel was standing right there. If anything, he probably would have burned through you on purpose just so Dean wouldn't have another choice. Remember, this wasn't Lucifer after years languishing in the cage, this was alternate Michael who's stronger than any archangel I've seen since before the apocalypse."

"I know, I just…" Cas sighed again and clenched his hands on the tabletop. "I just feel like I can't save anyone anymore. Not Sam back in that cave, not Dean, and not even Jack from his own father."

Gabriel cast a sympathetic look over at him. "You know what, little bro, I think you're too hard on yourself. Yeah, you may not be as powerful as you once were, but it looks like we're both in that boat now." He bit his lip, glancing down as his own hands tightened into fists. "At least you were here fighting while I was either running or being tortured by a Prince of Hell."

Castiel leaned back in his chair, closing the book in front of him as it offered nothing of use. "Gabriel," he said after a long moment. "Jack…is there any of his grace left? I truly couldn't tell."

Gabriel twisted his mouth up. "Honestly? I can't tell either. But if Lucifer took it all, and he probably did, because he never does anything by halves, then there's no way of getting it back now that he's dead."

Castiel looked down at the table, throat tightening with emotion. "That's what I thought."

"Hey, the kid's gonna be okay. He's got a lot of people looking out for him. And for the record, you'll be a hell of a better father than Lucifer. Besides, the kid chose you first. That has to mean something."

Castiel tried to be encouraged by that, but truthfully it just made him feel worse inside. He couldn't help but feel that he had failed Jack by not being more truthful about what Lucifer was actually like. He had just barged in, refusing Jack access to his father without explanation. He and the Winchesters had dealt with the archangel and his evil, manipulative nature for so long, perhaps they just assumed everyone felt the same way as they did. Of course, Jack was so innocent, so young. Castiel forgot that a lot of times, and it had nearly cost him the boy altogether. And it had cost Jack his powers. He recalled the Winchesters showing up before Jack was born, trying to convince Kelly that they could take away Jack's powers while he was still in the womb, avoid the danger of whatever he would become. How Kelly had protested that. Now they had been taken by the boy's own father, and Castiel felt like he had failed both Kelly and Jack. He was supposed to be the boy's protector, and so far all he had done was get himself killed so he couldn't be there at Jack's birth, lose the boy in an alternate dimension and stand by helplessly while Lucifer cut his grace out. What kind of father did that make him?

Castiel looked at a clock on the wall, seeing it was nearly six a.m. Sam and Mary would certainly be awake soon. Perhaps they would have more ideas of where to look for something that would help Dean.

Castiel stood and went to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee but he was pulled aside by the soft sound of crying coming from the dormitory wing.

Castiel hesitated only a moment before he changed course, and stopped at a door which was ajar, seeing it was Jack's room. As he glanced inside, he saw the boy curled on the bed, sobbing.

Part of Castiel thought he should leave, that Jack couldn't possibly want him there, but something kept him moving forward to the bedside. He just couldn't stand the thought of leaving the boy in such distress.

"Jack," he said softly as he sat on the side of the bed and reached out to touch his shoulder.

The boy instantly surged upright and latched onto Castiel's coat, burying his face in his chest. Castiel sat stunned for a moment before folding his arms around the boy.

"I'm sorry," Jack sobbed. "I'm sorry for everything!"

"Oh, Jack," Castiel sighed reaching up one hand to stroke through the boy's hair. "Nothing was your fault. I'm the one who's sorry."

It was a long moment before the sobs turned to sniffles and Jack finally pushed back, rubbing his face on his sleeve and looking down almost sheepishly.

"I'm sorry," he said again. "I don't…I don't know how to feel…I don't know what I'm feeling."

Castiel smiled gently and cupped Jack's cheek with one hand. "I know it's hard; emotions, feelings…they can be confusing. But we're all here for you, Jack, and that's all you have to remember right now."

He sniffed again and finally met Castiel's eyes. "Thank you…for being here for me."

Castiel smiled. "I will always look out for you, Jack."

Jack seemed to relax a bit, and leaned forward again to slump against Castiel. The angel simply sat there, holding his charge in a comforting embrace, and thought that perhaps Jack didn't see him as a complete failure after all.

He heard another door open and close and knew Sam would be up now. He gently pushed Jack back and stood up.

"Come on. You could probably use some breakfast, and we have a lot of work to do."


	3. Chapter 3

Michael was a bit surprised when he entered Heaven and found it deserted. He glanced around the stark white halls with a frown. Where were all the angels? Lucifer had told him there were only a few left, but he hadn't thought it was that bad.

The lights flickered with a whirring sound and the archangel frowned even deeper before he realized what was happening. Heaven was dying.

He smiled then. That meant the angels left would be desperate, willing to do anything in exchange for his help. He truly couldn't have asked for a better situation.

He heard footsteps and turned around, seeing a brunette angel walking down the corridor.

She stopped with a gasp as the sight of him.

"You—you're…but how…?" she stammered.

Michael smiled at her and advanced. "I am not your Michael, no, but I am here to help. Who is in charge up here?"

The angel looked about ready to collapse, both in fear and maybe a little relief as well. "Follow me. Naomi is in charge."

Michael did so, seeing several more power surges as they went. The angel led him to an office and Michael stepped inside.

"Please wait here, I'll go fetch her," the angel told him.

Michael glanced around the room. It was so stark, so clean, compared to his world. After having used deserted buildings for his bases for so long, this was almost painful to look at.

It wasn't long before the door opened again and a woman with short, white hair, dressed in a business suit, strode toward him before stopping, eyes widening.

"Well, this is…unexpected," she said.

"You must be Naomi," Michael said but made no move.

She looked him up and down. "Castiel did say you were coming. I'll admit I didn't believe him. What surprises me more is that you somehow managed to get Dean Winchester to say yes to you. I had given up hope of that happening years ago." She pressed her lips into a thin line. "I must say it pleases me to finally see him proven wrong."

Michael smiled. "I can be very persuasive. And to that point, let us discuss why I am here."

Naomi nodded once and motioned to the desk. "I think it best that we do."

Michael sat down across from her and watched her fold her hands on the tabletop.

"So, Castiel seemed to be under the impression that you were coming to destroy us all," Naomi said. "But it would not be the first time he overreacted or got information wrong."

Michael chuckled. "Oh, I'm not here to destroy everything. I'm here to make this world better. I failed in mine, and when this opportunity for a second change came to me, it just seemed…fated. And it seems that I was not a moment too soon. You look like you could really use my help."

"Our numbers are…vastly diminished," Naomi said, and at just that moment, the lights chose to surge again. "We tried to get Lucifer to help, but…he refused. Having an archangel back and on our side though, it will change everything. Castiel promised to talk to Gabriel…"

"Gabriel is dead," Michael told her flatly. "And so is Lucifer."

Naomi looked shocked for a moment. "Well, that is…news to me."

"So," Michael continued, leaning forward. "It seems I am your last hope. I can only assume you want me to take charge up here, lend my powers to keeping Heaven alive, possibly repopulating. In return, I only ask for one, simple thing."

Naomi leaned forward as well. "Anything you want from us, though you understand, we cannot spare many."

"I only need a couple trusted soldiers," Michael told her. "I hate leaving loose ends, and with taking Dean as my vessel, I can only assume that Sam Winchester and his companions will be hunting me down. I can't be bothered with that while I'm working to create my new universe, so if you could send someone to…take care of that for me, I would be most grateful."

Naomi gave a smile that almost made Michael like her. "Gladly. They have been a thorn in our side for too long. However, killing any angels is a bad idea right now, at least until we can repopulate our ranks. If you think it's prudent, I would suggest Castiel be brought here so that his power can be better used to keep Heaven together."

"That is your call, the little angel will be easy enough to subdue. From what I gather from Dean Winchesters memories, he is a pitiful creature at best."

"Oh, he will be subdued this time," Naomi said surely and Michael liked her tone. He stood and she was quick to follow.

"You seem to have a good head on your shoulders, a hardened soldier," Michael told her. "I will make you my lieutenant to handle the angels. You will relay my commands directly, and they will follow you."

Naomi straightened, seeming almost flattered if not a little smug. "I swear to do your will, Lord Michael. Now, with your permission, I will handle this mission myself; I would not trust it to any of the other angels here."

"I defer to your judgment. I will see what can be done up here while you are away."

Naomi nodded and left the room.

Michael looked around again and then strode to a door on the other side of the room. He opened it and found a room with a large white throne in the middle of it. He smiled and went to sit on it.

"Now, where is everyone?" he called, making sure he used the angelic frequency so everyone could hear. "Come pay obeisance to your new ruler."

~~~~~~~

Sam jolted awake, breathing heavily. He kicked the sheets from around him and swung his legs to the side of the bed, bending over to rest his face in his hands as he tried to dissipate the nightmare.

Of course, it would help if most of it wasn't true. Yes, Lucifer may be dead, unable to hurt anyone ever again, but Dean was still gone, and Sam only hoped he was okay, that Michael hadn't done anything to hurt him. They needed to find his brother and free him quickly.

Sam glanced at his clock and saw it was nearly six. At least he'd gotten a couple hours of sleep. Now it was time to hit the books. Maybe Cas and Gabe had found something last night.

He groaned as he stood. His body was still protesting the beating Lucifer had given him but he hadn't bothered Cas or Gabriel to heal him. A few bruises were the least of his problems right now.

He dressed and found his way to the kitchen where he smelled coffee brewing in the pot and poured a cup before anything else.

Cas came in a couple minutes later with a weary look in his own eyes.

"Did you sleep?" he asked the hunter, pouring another cup for himself.

"A little," Sam said, swallowing hard as the nightmares once again flashed through his head. "You find anything last night?"

Cas sighed and leaned back against the counter. "No. Nothing we don't already know."

Sam looked down into his coffee cup. "I was actually thinking…you know that exorcism egg thing the Brits gave us to get Lucifer out of the president? That would work right?"

Cas nodded. "Yes, it would, but…well, it would just get Michael out of Dean, he would still be on the loose, unless we could figure out a way to trap him."

Sam clenched his jaw in determination. "Still, as long as he's out of Dean, we can figure out what to do from there."

Cas sighed. "Sam, I want that as much as you do, but…we can't just leave Michael free, that won't help anyone. He can still wreak havoc even without Dean as his vessel. Need I remind you of the rampage Lucifer went on after Amara pulled him out of me?"

"Yeah, okay," Sam said with a sharp nod. "Then let's figure out a way to trap him."

Mom was up by then too, and they all convened in the library. Jack even joined them and Sam was glad to see the kid was at least out of bed, even if he wasn't talking much and he had dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn't slept any better than Sam had.

"You know," Gabriel said after a while, "if nothing else, we could just throw Michael into the Cage."

Cas cocked his head thoughtfully. "I suppose it is possible. The only reason it didn't work with Lucifer is because Crowley diverted him to his own prison."

Sam bit his lip, mulling it over. It might be their only option but…he wasn't exactly excited about trusting the Cage to keep anything in. Considering what had happened with Lucifer it just didn't seem permanent enough."

"I don't think we should trap him," Jack spoke up for the first time that morning, startling everyone else into turning toward him.

"What do you mean, Jack?" Mom asked.

"I think we should kill him," Jack replied, a determined look on his face as he glanced between all of them. "I promised to kill Michael back in the alternate universe and I failed. We brought the people here, only to have Michael show up with the goal to do the same to our world as he did to that one. If there's even a possibility that he could escape wherever we put him, then I don't think we can take that chance."

Gabriel gave a small hum of agreement, but Cas and Mom were shaking their heads.

"Jack, even together, going up against a fully powered archangel…" Cas began, but Sam cut in.

"No, Jack's right," he said and the boy looked up at him almost gratefully. "We can't afford the possibility that Michael could get free and, frankly, I don't trust the Cage, and there's nothing else even remotely equipped to hold an archangel. We need to think of something else, but whatever we decide, Michael's death has to be the ultimate goal."

"Well, I suppose we could bind him to his original vessel like Crowley did to Lucifer," Cas mused. "Though we'd need an expert in spellwork."

"Not to mention the fact that his vessel is currently rotting," Gabriel pointed out.

Sam sighed and ran his hands over his face. "Look, we'll find a way, but we have to do it fast. I don't know what Michael's planning, but I don't think he's going to wait around for us to stop him. I'd say we have days at most."

A somber silence fell over the party, and they all turned back to the books. Sam, however, stood up and reached for his phone.

"Either way, we're gonna need at least one more person on this," he said as he flipped through his contacts.

They were going to need a talented witch for this one.

~~~~~~~

Dean came to slowly, feeling like he was surfacing through a dark abyss. His head felt like it had been scraped out like a jack o' lantern and the rest of him was still protesting the beating Michael had given him. Imaginary his ass, he could distinctly feel the broken ribs and swollen eye.

He still managed to pull himself up into a sitting position though, putting a little less strain on his wrists which were still locked in the manacles.

Speaking of…he tugged on them experimentally. They felt real, but if what Michael said was true, that Dean only saw himself and the angel the way he would in real life because that's what he was used to, that's what he expected to see, then maybe the chains were just as metaphysical. Maybe if he stopped thinking of them as literal chains and started thinking of them as Michael's hold on him instead, he could force his way out of them.

He closed his eyes and began to concentrate, not so much on yanking on the chains, but forcing himself free with the power of his will.

He knew it was working the instant he felt a shift. The manacles around his wrists no longer felt like chains, but Michael's power pressing in on him. He pushed against it both mentally and physically and all of a sudden…

Dean sprawled onto his hands and knees on the floor, gasping. He opened his eyes. He was still in the dark room, but he could see the vague outline of the door and he scrambled to his feet and ran toward it.

It was closed tight, but Dean did the same thing as he had with the chains. He shoved against the door with both his force and his will, he forced every stubborn cell in his being against it, and he finally finally felt it budge.

Dean flung the door open with a shout of triumph, and was blinded by sudden light. Then all of a sudden, he blinked and found himself once again at the forefront of his body, looking out at a playground, beside a sandbox with a man and a woman in suits standing there in the middle of it.

He recognized the woman instantly even though she had a different hairstyle.

It was Naomi.

"You," Dean growled, staggering back, getting the feel of his body again. "What are you—agh!"

Something grabbed hold of him and he felt as if his insides were being wrung out. Dean doubled over but shoved a good dose of his will toward the offending object.

"Lay off, Michael!" he snapped. "I told you I revoke permission! Now get the hell out!"

A sudden burning sensation sprung up on the left side of his chest and Dean clawed at his shirt, loosening a tie at his throat and tearing the shirt open to see a glowing sigil carved into his shoulder.

"What the…"

His confusion was enough for him to slip. He lost hold on his control and Michael was quick to snatch him back.

Dean struggled, but landed heavily on the floor of the dark room again, Michael standing over him.

"You really thought you could escape? Just like that?" Michael demanded, taking a step closer as Dean scrambled to his feet.

"Well, it almost worked," Dean admitted. "What the hell did you do to me?"

"Just a safeguard," Michael told him smugly. "In case you, or your brother and little friends tried anything stupid. But don't worry, I'm not gonna make the same mistake twice."

He slammed a fist into the side of Dean's head and the hunter went down like a sack of rocks. Of course Michael didn't stop there, though; once Dean was down he began to kick him mercilessly until Dean was sobbing for breath and choking up blood. At this point, Dean couldn't even tell if it was from his lungs or internal bleeding. Actually, more worryingly, since it was technically his soul and not his physical body Michael was beating to a pulp, Dean didn't even want to know what kind of lasting damage this was going to cause.

He couldn't hold back a whimper as Michael crouched down and gripped a fistful of his hair, wrenching his head back.

"This time, you won't get out so easy," the archangel sneered.

Dean felt more manacles latch around his wrists, and also his ankles. Then chains began to wrap around his legs and upper body until he was unable to do more than wriggle weakly. He kicked out, just to see his range of movement, but the chains only tightened.

Michael smirked, obviously enjoying the spectacle. "Don't struggle too much. They only get tighter the more you move."

"Son of a bitch," Dean spat at him, spitting out a gob of blood.

Michael snapped his fingers and Dean found himself suddenly gagged, unable to speak. Michael patted the side of his face as he grunted in protest. "Be good, Dean. I'll be back if I need more information out of you."

Dean watched helplessly as Michael strode out the door and locked it from the outside. He slumped limply against the ground, body singing with pain and feeling helpless defeat.

How the hell was he going to get out of this now?

~~~~~~~

Michael pulled himself back together after leaving Dean, making sure the human annoyance was locked up firmly this time. He cleared his throat as he buttoned his shirt up fully again, straightening his tie.

Naomi cocked an eyebrow at him. "Trouble?"

"Nothing I can't handle," Michael snapped. Dean would not gain control of the vessel again, even for a brief moment. Michael would make sure of that. Truthfully, he hadn't realized the human would be so strong. Or so determined.

"The Winchesters have long been more trouble than they're worth," Naomi told him blandly.

"Then why didn't you kill them before now?" Michael asked.

Naomi's face pinched in obvious annoyance. "Believe me, it wasn't for lack of trying."

Michael straightened his suit jacket again. "Anyway, it's unimportant now. Dean has been put to good use, and Sam will soon be dead. Which you should probably see to while I talk to the angels in Heaven and see what I can do for you."

Naomi nodded her head slightly. "Of course, my lord. Come Tamiel, we cannot afford to leave Heaven long."

The male angel nodded and he and Naomi strode off. Michael watched them go, snorting at the prospect that they would have to find human transportation since none of the angels left had wings—no wonder they were a dying breed in this universe. Then he entered the portal to Heaven once again and decided to further inspect his new domain.

Soon, not only Heaven, but the whole world would be his.

 


	4. Chapter 4

The door to the bunker opened with its familiar screech and the click of high heels sounded down the stairs, heralding the arrival of the final member of their party.

"Well, hello boys," Rowena said cheerily as she cast her gaze over Sam, Cas and Gabriel who were currently sitting at the map table in the war room, looking over some of their research. "I was hoping that it would be a wee bit longer before I saw you again, but…och weel. Too much of a good thing and all that." She cast a sly glance at Gabriel though. "Of course, I've never been one to say no to good things."

Gabriel cocked an eyebrow cheekily and Sam cut in. "Okay, can we get to the matter at hand, please?"

Rowena heaved a sigh as she set her bag down on the table. "Always to business, Samuel. This is why your relationships dinna last long, darling."

Sam scrunched his face in indignation before he simply rolled his eyes, knowing there was no point. "Right. So, what do you have for us?"

"Hold your horses, I just got here. I'd at least like a cup of tea first. I trust all of your haven't forgotten your manners," Rowena said, pulling off her jacket and folding it neatly over her bag. "Besides, we need to discuss exactly what you're looking for. I assume something to get Michael out of your brother."

"Actually, we already have that," Sam told her. "Remember that exorcism egg we used on the president?"

Rowena raised an eyebrow. "Of course, but I don't see why you need my help."

"Because we need a way to contain Michael after we get him out of Dean so that we can kill him," Cas cut in. "It is not easy to kill an angel, especially an archangel in their true form, unless you have a spell or something for that."

"Well, I'm sure if pressed I could come up with something," Rowena said. "But why not just send him back from whence he came or to the Cage?"

"We don't want him out there," Sam said firmly. "We want him dead."

"Understandable," Rowena said, and then nodded to the kitchen. "Would you be so kind as to show me where you keep your kettle and tea?"

Sam sighed but followed her to the kitchen. He bent to pull the teakettle from a dusty shelf and rustled around in the cupboard for tea. When he turned back around, he saw Rowena just standing there, staring at him.

"What?" he asked.

She glanced back toward the outer room, and then took a step toward Sam, almost hesitantly, wariness in her eyes.

"It's true?" she asked quietly. "He's…really dead?"

Sam swallowed hard, and nodded before he met her eyes firmly. "Yes. Really, truly, dead this time. I saw him die myself. He's not coming back again, Rowena."

She took a shaky breath, steepleing her fingers before pressing them to her mouth. Her eyes were wet with unshed tears of relief that Sam could understand all too well. Instinctively he reached out to touch her shoulder and after a brief hesitation, Rowena placed her hand over his and squeezed.

"For that alone, I owe Dean," she whispered.

Sam nodded and she cleared her throat and stepped away from him, grabbing the kettle to fill it in the sink. "But first we need to figure out how we're going to do it."

"Exactly," Sam said.

Soon they were all once again sitting around the table in the library as Rowena looked through some of her own books.

"Well, truthfully, if you want my advise, I think the best thing to do is to trap him in his old vessel," Rowena told them, glancing up from under her lashes. "You do have it, don't you?"

"We buried it out in the woods," Mary told her.

Rowena fluttered a hand. "No problem. It doesn't need to be anything special. I'm sure one of us could fix it up for our purposes." She glanced over at Gabriel who shrugged.

"Doable," he said. "But we'd have to make sure Michael was trapped in it, so he couldn't just smoke out and find the next best suit halfway around the world, probably blowing through a bunch of people on the way."

"Well, Crowley was able to bind Lucifer to his old vessel," Cas spoke up. "We should be able to do the same here."

"Oh, it won't be hard," Rowena assured them. "All we'll need to get the vessel ship shape, and then I'll just work up the spell to direct Michael into it once we exorcise him from Dean. And after that, archangel blade to the heart should end all of your problems." She flipped through her book. "Now, I'll need some supplies for the binding spell. I'm a bit low at the moment, so I might need you to help me fetch some things."

"Whatever we don't have here, we'll get for you," Sam assured her. "Just give us a list."

Rowena swiftly checked their own supplies and then wrote up a list of what they didn't have.

"You should be able to find everything at your typical Wiccan crystal shop," she assured him. "Thankfully, your bunker comes very well equipped. I'm just a little low on the basics."

"Great, there's a place a couple hours away that sells to hunters," Sam said.

Cas stood up. "I'll go with you."

Sam nodded and turned to the others.

Gabriel shrugged. "I'll stay here and help get stuff ready."

"Of course you will," Sam muttered, catching the glance between the archangel and the red-headed witch. He glanced over at Jack, sitting quietly at the end of the table and cleared his throat. "Hey, Jack. Why don't you come with Cas and me? You could use some fresh air."

Jack looked a bit uncertain, but Mary nudged him gently. "Go on, Jack. Sam's right. You've been cooped up here since we got back."

"Well, okay," Jack said and got up, going to join Sam and Cas.

Sam grabbed his jacket and keys. "We'll be back in a few hours. Call us if you think there's anything else you need. Or…if you hear anything about Michael or Dean."

"Don't worry, Sam, we've got everything under control here," Rowena told him.

Sam gave a sharp nod and then he, Cas and Jack made their way to the garage.

Their drive was mostly silent, all three of them with their own thoughts. Sam and Cas discussed the plan a little but fell silent after a while. Sam kept glancing into the backseat to check on Jack, but the boy simply stared out the window. Sam refrained from sighing. He wondered if getting Dean back would even help Jack. At this point, he simply seemed depressed, and yeah, Sam could understand that, but he just wished he knew how to make it better.

He pulled into the parking lot out behind the small strip mall where the shop lay, looking like a typical new age crystal shop, except that the owner had put hunter signs in the window to state that they also carried other items 'over the counter'.

Sam turned the Impala off and they got out of the car. He turned to Cas and Jack then hesitantly. "Hey, um, maybe you should stay out here, actually, Cas. I don't know what kind of warding this place has and if she sees you can't get in, then I don't want anything to get blown out of proportion."

Castiel nodded in acceptance. "That's probably for the best. Here is the list." He pulled the paper from his pocket and handed it to Sam.

"I'll stay with Castiel," Jack said when Sam glanced at him.

Sam nodded. "Sure. Hopefully it won't take too long. We can grab some lunch on the way back, okay? Whatever you want, Jack." Then he turned and headed toward the shop.

~~~~~~~

Castiel tucked his hands into his coat pockets and leaned back against the Impala, looking up at the sky. It was overcast and looked like it might rain. He checked his phone, seeing a text from Mary that told him they had retrieved Michael's old vessel and Rowena and Gabriel were working on figuring out the proper spellwork to bind Michael to it. He replied to tell her they had made it to the shop and would be on their way soon.

He put his phone away as he glanced over at Jack who had perched on the trunk of the Impala. He'd hardly spoken since his insistence that they kill Michael instead of trapping him. Castiel was worried about the boy's distant attitude. He wanted to help, to get Jack to open up about everything, but he didn't know how. He hadn't had a lot of practice. After all, neither himself or the Winchesters were very good at that.

He thought he might broach the subject of what Jack wanted to eat for lunch at least, when another car pulled up into the parking lot. Castiel glanced over at it, but didn't think much about it until the front doors opened and he saw who the passengers were.

"Castiel."

Just his name coming out of her mouth sent painful memories flowing through him, and a shiver ran down his spine. Castiel stood up straight. "Naomi, Tamiel, what are you doing here?"

Naomi came to a stop, Tamiel, her partner, slightly off to one side, obviously blocking Castiel's escape. She didn't answer his question, but instead simply said, "Where is Sam Winchester?"

Jack was beside him now, curious. "Castiel? Who are they?"

"Jack, stay behind me," Castiel insisted, pushing himself in front of the boy.

Naomi craned her head to watch him. "I see you found the nephillim. But…" she frowned. "His grace, it's gone."

Castiel stiffened but continued to glower at her. "What do you want, Naomi?" he demanded more slowly.

"We're rebuilding Heaven, Castiel, and we need every angel we can get," Naomi told him. "Michael has a plan."

"Michael?" Jack asked, pushing forward before Castiel grabbed his sleeve. "You've seen him?"

Naomi smiled at him but her eyes were on Castiel. "Yes, and the vessel he has taken. I'm sure you have a plan to evict him but you have to understand that I can't let you do that, Castiel."

"Naomi, whatever Michael told you is a lie," Castiel tried to plead. "He only wants destruction for this world."

Naomi gave him a wry smile. "And some of us think it's about time," she said.

Castiel shook his head, disgusted. "No, I won't let you."

She sighed. "Come now, Castiel. I know you always have to do things the hard way, but please. Just this once, come quietly."

"No," Castiel shook his head. "I will never come with you!"

"Very well then," she shook her head. "Tamiel, take him alive but don't worry about the boy. He's no use to us without his powers."

Castiel frantically gripped Jack's arm. "Jack, run and get Sam now!"

"No," Jack shook his head, eyes wide, but Castiel shoved him hard in the chest as Tamiel came for him.

Castiel slipped his blade into his hand and met the angel head on. He really didn't want to have to kill more angels—though he wished more than anything that he could stick a blade in Naomi's throat and be done with it—but if it were between them and his family, he was going to choose his family."

He dodged a blow from Tamiel, and grabbed his sword arm, twisting it and throwing the other angel to the ground before he spun around and attacked Naomi who was going after Jack. She spun around to meet him, and their blades clashed together. The ring of celestial steel as he looked into her eyes caused him to flash back to being strapped to that chair as Naomi tore into his head. Of Samandriel, dead in his arms, of the warehouse full of slaughtered copies of Dean.

Naomi's blade slammed pommel first into his jaw and he was brought back to the present, gasping for breath. He snarled and charged her, furious that she always had this hold over him. He slashed her across the ribs with his blade, and she staggered back with a gasp.

"Cas, watch out!" Jack cried suddenly from behind him.

Castiel turned around just in time to have Jack fall against him with a grunt, Tamiel's blade buried in his side.

"Jack!" Castiel cried, holding the boy upright, the fight practically forgotten.

Naomi strode over to stand next to Tamiel. "Finish it, and get Castiel into the car."

~~~~~~~

Sam handed the list to the woman who ran the shop and waited as she gathered the stuff from the back room. He looked around to see if there was anything else they might need but figured that Rowena knew what she was doing.

"Well, here's everything on the list," the shop owner told him as she came back, placing several paper packages onto the counter and going to ring them up.

Sam forced a smile and reached for his wallet. "Thanks." He was silent for a moment before he asked. "Um, I did have one question. Do you happen to know if there's any way to track a person being possessed and bypass the power of the entity so they don't get tipped off?"

She glanced up at him. "Well, I know a few tracking spells, but…it depends on how powerful of an entity we're talking about."

"Yeah, right," Sam nodded. "I was just curious."

She shook her head slightly and put all of the items into a bag. "Well, whatever you're working on right now, good luck."

"Thanks," Sam said and took the things, heading out of the shop.

As he was walking back to the parking lot, he heard sounds of fighting and broke into a sprint, instantly pulling the gun from the back of his jeans.

He came onto the scene with horror. Cas was crouched on the ground with his angel blade raised, Jack tucked protectively against him, and a man and a woman hemming them in. Sam gasped as he recognized the women as Naomi. Angels.

"Hey!" he shouted, and drew his angel blade instead.

"Sam Winchester, nice of you to join us," Naomi said as her attention turned to him.

"Sam, they're going to kill you!" Castiel cried, looking torn between staying with Jack, who Sam could now see was bleeding, and helping Sam.

The hunter took the choice from him and lunged forward toward the angels.

They both came at him at the same time, and Sam scored one hit on the male angel before he received a slash across the upper arm. He staggered back, then kicked out at the male angel and brought his blade up to parry a blow from Naomi. She retaliated by slamming her blade into the side of his head and kicking him in the knee. Sam cried out and collapsed on the ground, looking up as the angel readied her blade to stab him.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this," she said.

Sam raised an arm, though knew it would do nothing to protect him, but then a sudden flash of light burst and Naomi and the other angel screamed in anger before they disappeared.

Sam gasped, and shot upright, glancing over at Cas who had drawn a banishing sigil.

"Sam, are you alright?" Cas asked.

"Yeah, thanks," Sam said, and then pushed himself up, cringing as his knee protested, and scrambled the last few feet toward Cas and Jack. "Jack…oh god!"

Now that Sam could see fully, he saw Jack's shirt soaked in blood, Cas' hand pressed tightly to his side.

"What happened?" Sam demanded.

Jack's eyes fluttered open. "I just…I stopped him from stabbing Castiel."

Sam ran a hand through his hair before he pulled Jack against him so Cas could more easily see his wound. "Jack, you can't just jump in front of knives. You're not immortal anymore!"

"I know!" Jack cried and then grunted, squeezing his eyes shut. Sam steadied him, running a hand through his hair.

"It's okay, I'm sorry," he whispered and glanced up at Cas. "Cas?"

"I should be able to heal it," he said and placed his hand over the wound and a soft light infused the area. Jack inhaled and then slumped back against Sam. Cas sagged, but looked relieved as well as exhausted.

"Don't do that again," he said firmly.

Jack sat up straighter and Sam helped him and then Cas to stand. The boy glowered at the angel. "You're telling me not to protect my family? That's what all of you always do! That's why Dean said yes to Michael!"

"Jack, I'm not saying you can't protect the people you love, but you don't have your powers anymore, and you need to be more cautious," Cas tried.

"I know! Jack said, clenching his fists. "Why does everyone keep having to remind me of that, as if that was the only thing that made me useful! Are you just going to lock me in the bunker now so that I can't get hurt? First you're worried that I'm gonna hurt people and then that I'm gonna get myself killed?"

"Jack, that's not what we're saying," Sam tried, but the ex-nephellim was already walking away.

"Jack!" Cas called, but Sam held up a hand to stop him and hurried after Jack himself.

"Jack, hey, stop for a second," Sam told him and Jack did, hanging his head and refusing to look at Sam. "Look, Cas is just scared. He didn't mean you were useless. Neither did I."

"I'm actually glad, you know," Jack said and finally met Sam's eyes.

Sam frowned. "Glad about what?"

"That Lucifer took my powers," Jack said, pressing his hands into his chest. "I was able to save a lot of people because of them, especially in the apocalypse world. But I also hurt a lot of people too. Now I don't have to worry about that anymore. I don't have to worry about you or anyone else getting caught in the crossfire. I don't have to worry about accidently using too much force and hurting someone. I don't have to worry about using them to go up against Michael and accidently killing Dean too. I'm just human now, and I'm actually not upset about it, so if you think that's what's wrong, it's not."

Sam glanced over Jack's shoulder at Cas who had quietly come up during the conversation.

"Is that really how you feel, Jack?" Cas asked him, brow furrowed.

Jack only hesitated for a second before he nodded. "Yes. It is. I know my mom wanted me to use my powers for good, and I tried, but…I'm also tired of being defined by that. Just by how powerful I am. That's all Lucifer wanted me for, he didn't really care about being my father. But you…" he glanced between Sam and Cas. "You still care about me, even though I don't have my powers anymore."

"Of course we do," Sam said.

"But I don't want to be helpless," Jack insisted. "I don't want you to feel like you always have to protect me. I want to help you fight. Not just to save Dean, but to hunt with you from now on."

Sam nodded. "Okay. Then that's what we'll do. We'll teach you to fight like a hunter."

Jack's eyes perked up for the first time in days. "You will?"

"Of course," Cas told him, settling a hand on his shoulder. "You're already very good at research. It's only fair you learn all the aspects of hunting."

The smallest smile crossed his lips. "Thank you." But worry soon creased his brow again. "But those angels…what did they want with us? And they said Michael had been to Heaven."

Sam's eyes widened and he glanced at Cas for confirmation. "He's been in Heaven?"

Cas nodded reluctantly. "It seems so. And it also seems that we have another big problem on our hands. Naomi seems to be out for your blood Sam, and probably everyone involved with us. We'll need to be careful. I can only assume Michael is trying to get rid of anyone who might cause him trouble. She wants me because she refuses to kill any angels but you, Jack, and Mary…I don't think they'll hesitate the next time they see you."

Sam swallowed hard but nodded. "Okay, then. We'll keep a sharp eye out."

"There's another thing," Cas said, nodding to Jack. "Jack is human now, and can't hide himself. He will need to be warded against angels too, so they can't use him to find us."

Sam nodded. "Well, I guess we'll be stopping at a tattoo parlor on the way home." He clapped a hand on Jack's shoulder. "If you're going the be a hunter, the first step is to get inked up."

Jack nodded. "Okay. I promise I won't hurt anyone this time."

Sam smiled and squeezed his shoulder.

"The sooner we get this done, the better," Cas replied, glancing around as if Naomi might be back at any second. "It won't take them long to regroup."

"Let's go then," Sam said and they headed back to the Impala.

Sam really hoped that the spell Rowena was working on would be successful. Because it seemed that they were fast running out of time.


	5. Chapter 5

Thankfully, they made it back to the bunker safely, after stopping and getting Jack the proper tattoos for a hunter, adding the same warding sigils Cas had tattooed onto his own ribs.

Now back in the safety of their home, Sam stood over the table in the library with Cas; Gabriel and Rowena were on the other side, and all four of them were staring down at Michael's old vessel.

"What else needs to be done?" Sam asked, wrinkling his nose slightly, before he finally took the sheet covering the body and pulled it over the face.

Rowena sighed slightly. "Well, I restored it, gave it a bit of a refresh so it wouldn't stink. But I still have to work on the binding magic we'll need to keep Michael in here once we have him. And hopefully, like with Lucifer, it will also allow us some control over him."

"Hold on, though," Sam interjected. "Crowley said that Lucifer got away from him because the spell could go both ways and Lucifer turned the tables on him."

Rowena smiled. "My son may have been a canny one, but he was only an amateur at witchcraft. I know safeguards he never would have thought of. Everything should go to plan. Michael won't be able to power down the spell in the time it will take for us to do what we will with him."

"The hard part is going to be getting him out of Dean in the first place," Gabriel said. "And we won't know how to do that until we actually see what kind of hold Michael has on him."

"How long is this going to take?" Cas asked.

Rowena sighed and cast him a longsuffering look. "One of these days, Castiel, you'll learn that rushing things is no way to enjoy life."

"Forgive me for being a little anxious to save my friend from a maniac trying to destroy the whole earth," Cas replied sarcastically.

"Cassie, we got this," Gabriel told him and earned a smile from Rowena.

"Indeed. I should be finished with this by tomorrow. And then all we need do is perform the summoning spell like you did with Lucifer and we'll have Michael—and Dean—in our grasp."

"What can we do to help?" Sam asked.

"Just let me work," Rowena said briskly, heading over to look into the bag of items Sam had procured at the shop. "I don't need everyone getting in my way. Gabriel has been kind enough to volunteer as my assistant." She fluttered her eyelashes slightly at the archangel and Gabriel waggled his eyebrows in return.

Sam rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay. Just…call us if you need anything."

"Oh, I could do with a cup of tea," Rowena called as he and Cas left the room.

Sam and the angel shared a look, but went to the kitchen. Mom was already there with Jack, making a pot of coffee. She looked up when Sam and Cas came in.

"Well, how's it going?"

"Rowena said she'll have the vessel ready by tomorrow," Sam said as he went to grab the kettle and some tea. "But with the angels looking for us now…I'm wary of taking even that much time."

"She may finish before," Cas said, though didn't sound very convinced. "Either way, we should be able to capture Michael tomorrow."

"Which reminds me," Sam said. "We need to ward one of the storage rooms enough to keep an archangel contained. We'll set up the summoning spell down there, but we know from experience with Lucifer that the trap won't hold long."

"I'll see to that," Cas said.

"I'll help you, Castiel," Mom said as she put down her coffee cup.

Cas nodded and they left the room, leaving only Sam and Jack who was sitting at the table, a hot chocolate Mom had made him half drunk and held loosely in one of his hands.

"Hey, how do the tattoos feel?" he asked.

Jack shrugged touching the spot where gauze had been taped over one of them. "Sore, but it's best that I don't leave myself open to possession and tracking. I'll feel better going out on hunts properly warded."

Sam nodded, then stepped forward with a sudden thought, and squeezed Jack's shoulder. "You know, we've got some time to kill. How about we start your weapons training?"

Jack hesitated slightly, but then nodded. "Okay."

Sam gave him a small smile. "Good. Let's go down to the gun range first. See if you're a crack shot."

At the very least it would give them something to occupy their minds with while they waited to be able to summon Michael. Sam really hoped that everything would go as planned. He wasn't sure how many more hurdles he could handle right now.

~~~~~~~

Michael sat alone alone in the throne room of Heaven, contemplating where it would be best to start on subjugating this new earth. There seemed to be a lot of turmoil between certain countries already. Perhaps if he poked them in the right direction, he could start a war that could help his job along immensely; after all, his own forces were pitiful at best right now. He was just considering how best to go about his first move, when he heard raised voices, and shouting. He cast an irritated look toward the door and was nonplussed when that angel Duma came in.

"Sir," she said. "Naomi and Tamiel have returned."

Michael waved to her lazily. "Bring them here then."

But they were already coming into the room, Naomi with a furious look on her face, blood staining the side of her usually pristine white shirt and blazer. Tamiel also showed signs of injury.

"What happened?" Michael asked almost wryly. "Can I presume that you failed in your mission?"

"Sir, we didn't get much of a chance. Castiel used a banishing sigil on us before we could apprehend him."

"And are Sam and Mary Winchester dead?" Michael asked.

The look on Naomi's face told everything before she spoke. "No, sir. But we will succeed the next time we go against them."

"Don't bother," Michael said dismissively. "I should have seen to this myself to begin with. I never should have trusted you with this important job."

"Sir," Tamiel stepped forward. "We did manage to fatally wound the nephillim."

Michael cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, you did? And does that mean that when I go to finish the job you started I won't find the brat still holding on to life?"

Tamiel opened his mouth, but Naomi shot him a glare and he shut it. Michael sighed.

"That's what I thought." He stood and strode toward them. "Look, I want to help you here. But I can't do it if I have the Winchesters and adjacent buzzing around me like a gnat. Lucifer told me all about them and what they were capable of. Now, my brother, every iteration of him, might be a bit dramatic, but I am willing to take him for his word on this one, especially after what you yourself said, Naomi. So, do me a favor, and find a way to get rid of the Winchesters and their friends permanently or I'm going to figure out how to give Heaven a jump start by using your grace to do it, understand?"

Naomi swallowed, a slightly indignant look flashing across her face before she nodded sharply. "Of course, sir. We will get back to you."

"It had better be soon," Michael stated, sitting back down. "Now that they know you're after them, they will not be so easy to catch."

Naomi nodded and jerked her head at Tamiel before they both beat a hasty retreat out the door. Michael was satisfied with the power he was able to exert over the angels, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't a little impatient. He didn't dare try anything with the Winchesters and company still alive, but he knew that if he waited too long, they might come after him instead. Naomi's incompetence had just lost him even more time in that department.

Maybe he should just do it himself after all.

~~~~~~~

"That's good, yeah, sight down that bead there and squeeze the trigger, don't pull it."

Sam took his hands away from Jack's elbows after adjusting his stance and stepped back as the boy sighted down the barrel of Sam's pistol, aiming at the paper target at the end of the range. He fired three shots in succession and set the gun down like Sam had told him to, looking to the hunter.

Sam smiled and brought the target forward. "Hey, not bad, good grouping," he told Jack, after seeing the three neat holes right in the center of the target's chest.

"Sam, I know shooting and hunting is important, but a loaded gun is just as volatile as my powers were. What if I mess up and shoot one of you?" Jack asked worriedly.

"You won't," Sam shook his head with a kind smile. "Jack, you learned to use your powers, and you'll learn to use a gun. It's just a tool and tools need to be treated properly so that they work and don't cause harm. And I'll teach you how to use it, and clean it and everything. You may not even always use a gun, maybe you'll prefer an angel blade or something, but a gun is a good thing to have on you when you're hunting. And yeah, there's always the risk of catching a bullet when you go into a fight, for all of us, but for all the times Dean and I have fought together, we've never shot each other. On accident," Sam amended sheepishly. But really, various possessions didn't exactly count.

Jack sighed as he glanced at the gun, but he nodded. "I see your point. And I would like to learn how to properly use one," he said.

Sam nodded and clapped Jack on the shoulder with a smile. "I think you'll be a natural shot. How about we try some sparring with blades now though?"

Jack nodded. "Yes, I think it would be a good idea to learn, especially after what happened earlier."

"Then let's start," Sam said and found another angel blade for Jack before he started to teach him how to hold it and the proper stances for keeping good footing while also being able to attack swiftly. Despite Jack's hesitance sometimes, he was a quick learner, and Sam could tell instantly that he was naturally fluid, in fact, the way he moved with a blade in his hand reminded Sam a lot of Cas. The angel would probably be a better teacher; Sam would have to make sure he and Jack got some training in in their free time.

After they got Dean back.

The door to the gun range opened and Sam and Jack halted their lesson as Cas and Mom came in.

"We finished up warding one of the storage rooms. It should contain an archangel now," Cas said. "It won't hold forever, but it will weaken him, and we have Enochian cuffs and holy oil at the ready."

Sam swallowed hard but nodded. "Okay, good. Now all we need to do is wait for Rowena to finish prepping the spell."

"She's almost done," Mom said. "We just went to check on her and Gabriel."

"Then let's do this," Sam said firmly and the others nodded, following him out of the range and back up to the library.

Rowena was grinding some herbs with a mortar and pestle and looked up as they entered the room. "Well, I'm almost finished here. Once I get the spell together, we are good to go."

Gabriel looked across the table at Sam. "We doing this tonight, chief?"

Sam set his jaw and nodded. "We can't afford to wait any longer. We don't know how soon Michael will enact his plans and now with the angels gunning for us…" He looked around the room at the familiar faces who were just as ready as he was. "Let's bring Dean home."

"And let's kill Michael once and for all," Jack added, hand still clenching around the angel blade that he held.

Sam glanced at the boy, somewhat worried he might try something rash again, but they would all be there to stop him if it came to that. They needed to concentrate on getting Michael out of Dean before anything else.

Rowena sighed and put the pestle down. "Well then, show me where we're setting up."

They all gathered up the supplies, Gabriel slinging the body of Michael's old vessel over his shoulders, and headed to the storage room set up for the occasion. Sam and his mother helped Rowena set up the spell ingredients on a table on one side of the room, while Cas and Gabriel settled Michael's vessel into a chair, and chained it with a set of Enochian cuffs. Sam wasn't sure it would be enough, but they only really had to keep Michael contained long enough to stab him.

Though he knew from long experience fighting overpowered supernatural baddies that that was often easier said than done.

"Alright, that should hold him," Gabriel said, stepping back. "And with Rowena practically able to control him, we shouldn't have any issues."

Cas glared at him slightly. "Don't say that. You'll only bring misfortune."

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Mike might be powerful, but with all of us here, he's not getting out alive. We'll make sure of that."

Sam picked up the jug of holy oil and began to trace a circle around the sigil already painted on the floor. Once he had finished he stepped back to one side and Gabriel turned to him, reaching into his coat.

"You want to take this?" he asked with a look as he pulled out the archangel blade.

A sick feeling twisted in Sam's stomach, but he swallowed hard, and took the blade even though he didn't want to. "This is only a last resort," he said again as he quickly tucked the blade into the back of his belt.

Gabriel gave him a sincere look. "I know. But even if we have to go there, just remember Cas and I will be able to heal Dean. It won't leave lasting damage."

"Still, it's…" Sam closed his eyes and swallowed the bile rising in his throat.

He was surprised to find Gabriel's hand squeezing his shoulder. "And you see why no matter how evil Lucifer was I still couldn't kill him?"

Sam glanced at him. "I never questioned that. He was still your brother."

Gabriel shrugged, but Sam could see the pain in his eyes that was still there, remembering a Lucifer Sam had never met. "Yeah. But this Michael isn't my brother. So if you need help shiving his ass, I'd be glad to do it for you."

Sam actually smiled and Cas came over to him and met his eyes with a concerned and serious expression. "Are you ready?"

Sam took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah. Let's do this."

They all moved to one side of the room, Sam glanced over and made sure his mom had her eye on Jack and then he turned to Rowena. "Do it."

She nodded and took up a knife, cutting her hand and dripping blood into the bowl before she began to chant. The contents of the bowl began to glow and then burst into flame as she finished.

Sam held his breath, feeling an electric charge in the room and then a popping in his ears as air was displaced in the small area. He flinched and pressed himself back against the wall again as they all watched a figure appear in the circle in the middle of the floor. Sam felt the breath punch from his lungs. The figure's back was turned, but Sam knew it was his brother. Though his stance was all wrong and when he finally turned around, that small, cruel smile on Dean's lips was not Sam's brother. Not at all.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite revolutionaries," Michael said with a low chuckle.

Cas instantly stepped forward with a lighter and threw it onto the floor so that the ring of holy fire lit.

Michael smirked. "You know this won't stop me for long."

"It doesn't have to," Cas said firmly. "Just long enough."

Michael chuckled again. He seemed almost suspiciously relaxed, but then, Sam figured he probably didn't know what it was like to be defeated. After all, he'd been the ruling overlord in his own world for a long time.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Michael asked, stepping boldly close to the holy fire. His gaze roved around the room and finally landed on Gabriel. He cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, hello Gabriel. I thought I killed you."

Gabriel smirked with a shrug. "Yeah, didn't stick. You should probably watch your pockets around me, I'm known to play the old switch-a-roo."

Michael shrugged. "It won't matter. You and Castiel will both be dragged back to Heaven for Naomi to use in whatever capacity she thinks best."

Sam didn't miss Cas tensing, and moved closer to his friend in a supportive manner.

Michael glanced over at the other vessel slumped in the chair. "I see you kept my old vessel. Sorry to say, I'm rather fond of this new one." He reached up and straightened the cuffs and coat of the suit he was wearing. "Like the new duds? No one can plot world domination with faded jeans and flannel."

"You're not taking over this world," Jack spoke harshly, stepping forward before Mom put a hand on his shoulder to make sure he didn't go farther. "And you can't have Dean."

Michael gave a cold smile. "I do miss you, boy. I never did get to really crack that egg like I wanted to. Now that you lost your powers, I guess I lost my chance. I may haul you back to Naomi just so she can take you apart for fun though. That seems like her kind of hobby."

"Stop talking to him," Cas stepped in, quickly, fury flashing in his eyes. Michael just chuckled, amused.

Sam turned to Rowena and nodded. "You got it ready?"

"Yes, everything is prepared, Samuel. Just give me the word," she said, watching Michael warily.

"Then do it."

Rowena pulled the strange gold egg out from behind the table, and began to recite the exorcism. Sam watched Michael, waiting to see his reaction but the archangel was simply watching the witch with an unnerving smile. Sam had a bad feeling all of a sudden, and almost told Rowena to stop, but by then it was starting to take hold, and there was a huge burst of light that shot from the egg and across the room to strike Michael in the chest. Sam flinched, shielding his eyes, wincing as Michael screamed in Dean's voice.

The whole room was getting backlash from the force of the exorcism spell, wind whipping everyone's hair and clothes so that it was hard to see, but Sam squinted toward Michael to see if it was working.

Michael shuddered, jerking sporadically and growling in pain, but nothing seemed to be happening. This didn't seem to be working like it had with Lucifer. They should have seen Michael's true form leaving by now.

"What is this?" Sam yelled over the commotion.

"Something's wrong," Cas said instantly and turned to Rowena.

"Don't look at me, the exorcism was foolproof!" she exclaimed, her back against the wall to brace herself as she thrust the egg in front of her, away from her body.

"Is—is it killing him?" Jack asked.

"What do we need to do?" Mary demanded, agony in her eyes watching the sight.

"Dean?" Sam called, stepping cautiously closer to the holy fire. "Dean!"

Michael doubled over, and something glinted through his shirt, but it was not blue like the grace of an angel, it was red and glowing. Sam furrowed his brow. What the hell…?

Gabriel suddenly spun around toward Rowena. "Kill the spell! Now!"

"What?" Rowena demanded.

Gabriel snapped his fingers and the egg exploded in a flash of light, sending Rowena flying backwards into the wall, the egg rolling along beside her.

Michael stopped shuddering finally, collapsing to one knee. Gabriel was helping Rowena to her feet, and they all stood, watching what would happen next. The trapped archangel stayed there panting for a few long moments, before he began to laugh between the gasps for breath and rose. He cracked his eyes open again as he looked at Sam, and the younger Winchester took a step back on instinct.

"You're all fools," Michael said as he reached up and pulled off his tie before pulling his shirt open to reveal a reddened sigil that looked like it had been carved or branded into Dean's skin.

"What the hell is that?" Sam demanded.

"Insurance," Michael said. "This binds me to Dean. You pull me out, he goes with me. You're left with nothing but an empty vessel with your brother's face."

"You son of a bitch," Mom snarled.

Michael turned to her. "Face it, Mary. You're never going to get your son back."

"No!" Jack shouted. "You let Dean go!"

"Or what?" Michael demanded. "You had your chance to kill me before, but you're all bark and no bite now, kid. As soon as I get out of here, I'm gonna snap your neck. And I might let Dean watch. After all, he wanted to kill you once, and now that he's not so keen on that, it will be a cruel irony."

Cas and Sam both stepped forward to grab Jack as he lunged dangerously close to the holy fire.

"Jack, calm down," Cas tried.

Sam turned to the others and jerked his head toward the door. "Regroup. Now."

They all left a smirking Michael in the room and closed the door behind them as his dark chuckles echoed ominously around the room. Sam wanted to vomit. How the hell were they going to rescue Dean now?


	6. Chapter 6

"Okay, what the hell happened in there?" Sam demanded.

Castiel still kept a hand on Jack's shoulder, afraid the boy would run back into the room and try some futile attempt that would only bait Michael more. They were all standing in the hall outside the room, shaken. Castiel shook his head.

"It's…that kind of binding magic is forbidden," he said. "Taking a vessel is supposed to be an action of trust between the human and the angel. To bind yourself to the soul of your vessel is violating that trust."

"But how do we break it?" Sam asked. "Can we cut the sigil? Is there a spell to remove it?"

"It's not that simple," Gabriel said. "That sigil means that he's got Dean locked up inside his own body. If Dean could have fought him off before, he can't even physically do that now."

"That's probably why Michael bound him," Castiel said grimly. "You know well enough Dean wouldn't go down without a fight."

"Well, I'll need some rest if you expect me to use a spell to unbind him," Rowena said indignantly. "Cutting off that exorcism early made me nauseous."

"Sorry, sweetheart," Gabriel apologized and brushed an errant curl from her cheek. "I didn't know what else to do."

She huffed, and folded her arms over her chest.

"Gabriel, do you have any ideas on how to break this?" Castiel asked his brother honestly.

The archangel sighed deeply, shaking his head. "The only methods I can think of would be risky to Dean as well as Michael. We don't want to risk exploding them both."

"No, we don't," Mary stated firmly.

Sam frowned slightly before he turned to the archangel. "Hold on, Gabriel, if Michael has Dean locked down inside his body, then…what if we release him from the inside?"

Gabriel cocked an eyebrow, and Sam turned to Castiel instead. "Cas, remember when Crowley came into my head when I was possessed by Gadreel and then again for you when you were possessed by Lucifer?"

"Yes, of course, but Sam, that was possession; even now, Gabriel and I can't possesses Dean even if he would let us in because he has no way to give consent. We cannot physically get into his vessel."

"Maybe you don't have to," Rowena said thoughtfully and everyone turned to her. "I could set up a spell, simple really, sort of like astral projection, and you would be able to get into Dean's mind, and find him in there."

"Like…when angels dream walk?" Sam asked.

"More like when you take African dream root," Rowena said. "It will feel more psychical, though your body will stay out here."

Sam glanced at Gabriel and Castiel. "You think that could work? That we could free Dean that way?"

Castiel bit his lip. He knew it would be risky, but it might be the only way they could even have a chance of getting Dean free of Michael's hold. Gabriel seemed to agree. He simply gave a helpless shrug. "Do we have a better plan right now?"

Rowena finalized the decision for them. "I'll gather the supplies for the spell. Thankfully, it's an easy one."

She hurried off back to the library and Gabriel turned to them. "I'll go in."

"No," Castiel cut in firmly. "I will."

"Cassie, he's strong, if he catches you—"

"And you're still recovering from your wound," Castiel pointed out, and Gabriel's hand went to his chest subconsciously. Not only that, but Castiel could see his grace was still recovering from his time with Asmodeus, and the wound had not helped his recovery at all. He knew it would be a long before Gabriel was back up to his full power as an archangel. "Besides, I pulled Dean from Hell," he added. "I claimed his soul then, if anyone can unbind him from Michael's powers, it will be me."

Gabriel bit his lip, but he nodded. "You're right. But kiddo, if anything goes even a little sideways…"

Castiel smiled slightly and settled a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Then I trust you to pull me out."

"Damn straight," Gabriel said quietly.

Castiel turned to the others and Sam had a worried crease between his brows.

"Cas, are you sure about this?"

"You know I would do anything and more for my family," Castiel told him simply and Sam smiled.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank him until this works," Rowena called out, coming back with an armful of items for the spell. "I'll need something from you and Dean. Hair will work."

"I'll go pull some off his brush," Sam said and strode off. Castiel pulled a few strands from his head and put them into a bowl Rowena supplied then they all followed her back into the makeshift prison.

Michael stood in the circle of holy fire with his hands nonchalantly in his pockets.

"Back so soon?" he asked as they came in.

"Quiet," Castiel snapped.

Michael just smirked. "Finally find a way to get rid of me?"

They ignored him. Gabriel pulled a chair over nearer the circle as Rowena began setting up the spell. Michael sighed.

"More magic? That didn't go so well last time."

Sam came back into the room and handed Rowena Dean's hair. She mixed it into the bowl and nodded to Castiel. "Ready?"

He took a seat in the chair, facing Michael who was watching them all with some amusement and nodded back. "I'm ready."

"You might want to close your eyes for this," she told him.

Castiel did as he was told, and Rowena chanted the spell. As soon as she had finished it, he felt a strange tugging sensation from the center of his chest, mixed with vertigo, and before he knew it he was no longer sitting in the chair, or at least, he didn't feel like he was. He instead found himself in a dark room with no discernable features. In fact, there was only one thing in the room at all.

Dean Winchester lying on the floor in chains.

"Dean!" Castiel hissed and ran over to him, crouching down, trying to see if there was some lock that would release the chains. Dean was gagged and bloody; he'd obviously put up a fight. Castiel wouldn't have expected anything less from the hunter, but the state he was in…Michael had directly attacked his soul. It was going to take Dean a while to recover from this.

"Dean," he called again, tugging at the chains experimentally. They were extremely tight, and there were runes carved into them. Of course, this was all just a visual representation of the situation, how Dean was viewing it. The chains were really the binding spell, but if Castiel could figure out how to release them, than that may be their only way to break the spell.

Dean shifted, and grunted past the gag in his mouth. Castiel reached out to pull the gag off as Dean's eyes fluttered open.

"C-Cas?" he whispered, frowning. "The hell…?"

"Dean, listen, we don't have much time," Castiel said. "We have Michael trapped, and I came in to help you get free, so if there's anything you know about these chains, tell me now before Michael finds us."

"Got 'em off once," Dean said. "Michael added more. Didn't want me taking control. The more I move the tighter they get."

Castiel bit his lip. He could see how the chains were digging into Dean's flesh. Obviously he'd tried to move as much as he could before the chains had threatened to cut off his ability to breathe all together.

"How did you escape before?" he asked.

"Concentrated," Dean said. "Pushed back."

"Can you try that again?" Castiel asked. "I'll help."

Dean closed his eyes and set his jaw. His body tensed and Castiel dug his fingers under the chains attached to the manacles around Dean's wrists. The runes on them flared and Dean grunted, but didn't warn him to stop.

"I—I think it's working," Dean said after a few seconds. "Cas, keep pulling."

Castiel closed his eyes and concentrated, feeling the binding, and forcing as much power as he had into pressing against it, joining his power with Dean. With the concentrated effort, he could feel the binding spell fraying.

And then the door to the room slammed open.

Castiel heard Dean's shout first and then he felt himself ripped away from his friend and thrown across the room.

Castiel skidded across the dark floor and came to a halt against the wall. He scrambled into an upright position, recovering quickly and saw Michael standing there between him and Dean.

"So, this is what you had planned," he said derisively. "Honestly, after everything Lucifer told me about you, I'm kinda disappointed. So far you haven't done anything that's actually made me worried. All you and the Winchesters have done is annoy me."

Castiel stepped toward him. "I could say the same of you. You come to our world, make plans to subjugate it, and steal my best friend's body. I could say that's rather…annoying."

Michael chuckled then. "You really are full of yourself. All of you are. What's even more hilarious is that you actually think you have a chance of winning. Tell me, Castiel, how's that going for you?"

He lunged and Castiel dodged before Michael caught him around the throat and slammed a fist into his face several times before bringing a knee up into his ribs. Castiel grunted and Michael threw him down beside Dean who was watching with wide eyes.

"You made a mistake coming in here," Michael told him, striding forward and slamming his foot into Castiel's stomach before he could get up. The angel curled protectively around himself, pain singing through him with each blow, as he grew more and more desperate. "Because now, I have you captive, and I'll keep you in here too. Maybe it will keep Dean in line better than those chains."

He kicked Castiel in the side of the head and then shoved him onto his back, pressing the heel of his boot against his throat. Castiel grabbed his ankle, and glowered up at him.

"Cas!" Dean cried and began struggling against the chains, which were only cinching tighter, erasing all the progress they had made.

"What do you say, 'Cas'." Michael smirked down at him. "Are you going to cooperate, or not?"

~~~~~~~~

Sam watched anxiously as Cas' eyes rolled up into his head and his body slumped in the chair. Gabriel pressed two fingers to his forehead and then stepped back.

"Well?" Sam asked.

"He's in," Gabriel said, eyeing Michael who had also gone still, eyes closed, head slumped toward his chest as soon as the spell had been completed.

"How do we know if it works?" Mom asked.

"Michael will be shoved out into his other vessel," Gabriel said.

"What if he decides he doesn't want to go into that vessel again?" Sam asked.

"He doesn't have a choice," Rowena told him. "That vessel is now tailored as his own personal prison, he will only be able to go there once he's out of Dean."

"In theory," Gabriel added.

Rowena shot him a look. "It will work."

Sam sighed and ran his hands through his hair, beginning to pace. He hated the thought of Cas trapped in there with Michael, but if they could free Dean that way, then, well, they had to try it.

It seemed like an eternity before there was a shift from Cas. Sam spun to look, and saw a bruise darkening on his cheek. There was another twitch and his lip split.

"Gabriel!" Sam called, and the archangel shoved off of the wall he had been leaning against, just as Cas jerked in the chair, a small whuff of breath escaping him.

"What's happening?" Jack cried, rushing forward to grab Cas' arm. "Castiel?"

A cut opened up on Cas' cheekbone and his head lolled.

"Dammit," Gabriel snarled and grabbed Cas' shoulders, shaking him slightly. "Cas? Hey, come on, kiddo, fight back!"

Sam glanced over at Dean's body, but it was still standing there, eerily still.

Jack kept a first hold of Cas' arm as his frightened eyes turned up to meet Sam's. "Michael's killing him!"

Cas began making choking sounds, and Sam shook his head. "This isn't working, get him out of there!"

Gabriel cast one last glance toward Michael and then pressed his palms to either side of Cas' head and murmured something in Enochian. He repeated it several times before Cas' eyes flew open and he gasped, jerking out of the chair, before nearly collapsing against Gabriel and Sam.

"Whoa, easy, easy!" Gabriel said.

Michael's chuckle sent a chill down Sam's spine and he looked over to see the wicked grin the archangel had plastered on his brother's face.

"I told you you weren't going to just be able to get rid of me like that," he said.

Cas lunged forward but Sam and Gabriel hauled him back.

"Okay, everyone out," Mom said firmly, pulling Jack along with her.

Sam was reluctant, but knew there was nothing else to do. They had already blown through all their plans. All except one, and Sam still wasn't ready to try that yet.

They locked the door behind them and made their way back to the library.

"I almost had him free," Cas said as he slumped into one of the chairs, wiping blood from his mouth on his sleeve. "A couple more minutes, and I could have had him out. If Michael hadn't interrupted us…maybe we could try again, figure out some way to keep him distracted while I get Dean free."

"Hell no," Gabriel said firmly, crossing his arms over his chest. "That plan was stupid to begin with and he could have killed you."

"I'm not leaving Dean in there with that psychopath!" Cas cried.

"Cas, I don't like it either, but we'll find another way," Sam tried to reason with his friend. "This isn't all on you…"

"Of course it is!" Cas cried, pushing up to his feet again before Gabriel could inspect his injuries. "I was the one standing here when Dean said yes. I was the one who should have stopped him, but I didn't try hard enough. I knew Michael would never honor the deal and yet I allowed Dean to go through with it anyway."

"Cas, this isn't your fault," Sam tried. "You know Dean would have done it anyway. If you'd resisted more, he probably would have just knocked you out."

"Sam, all of this is my fault!" Cas cried, fists clenching at his sides. "What do you think the cosmic consequences Billie was talking about were? Everything bad that has happened since that point can only be my fault."

He turned and left the room.

"Castiel," Jack tried, but Sam grabbed his shoulder.

"Don't, I'll talk to him," he said quietly. "Just…the rest of you, look and see if there's anything else we can try. Another spell, anything."

Sam left the library and headed toward the dormitory wing where Cas had gone. The angel's door was closed, but Sam knocked.

"Cas?" he called. There was no answer, and Sam took a deep breath, but opened the door anyway.

Cas sat on the end of the bed, bent over his knees, his head in his hands. Sam pressed his lips into a thin line, and went to sit next to his friend.

"Cas, man you really can't blame yourself for all of this. You know it's not your fault."

Cas let out a derisive chuckle. "Isn't it always, though?"

"No, it's not," Sam replied firmly. "Dean and I screw up just as much, and you know it."

"I just feel like I can't protect anyone anymore," Cas sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. "First I try to protect you and your mother but Lucifer kills me and she gets taken to the alternate world. Then I come back and try to protect Jack, raise him well, teach him how to use his powers, and he runs away, and now his own father has ripped his grace out. I couldn't save you from the vampires in the tunnels…" He stopped then, voice becoming strained and Sam tried to keep from shuddering at the mention of that horrific nightmare. "And after everything; stopping the apocalypse, the reason I rebelled in the first place, even years later, I couldn't keep Dean from saying yes to Michael."

Sam sighed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Cas, we can play the blame game all we want to—trust me, I know—but it doesn't do any good in the end. I think I've finally figured that out. Think about it, we have Mom and Jack back, I'm alive, and we have Michael trapped. We just have to figure out another way to get him out of Dean."

"But how can we do that?" Cas asked grimly. "Sam, I don't want to have to nearly kill Dean to achieve that!"

"You know I don't want that either," Sam said quietly. "We'll find another way. But bottom line, I can't lose you too; I need you with me, man. I can't do this alone."

Cas finally looked over at Sam, taking a shuddering breath. "You know I'll be there beside you. I just…I just want my family to be safe again. I want this to be over."

"Me too," Sam said softly and settled a hand on Cas' back as they sat there in silence for a few seconds. That was what Sam wanted more than anything.

~~~~~~~~

Michael growled as Castiel disappeared, obviously pulled back out by the others.

He glowered down at Dean and swiftly crouched to check the chains. They were tighter, but they hadn't been compromised. Good. He reached out and grabbed Dean's chin, yanking his face up to meet his eyes.

"Don't get too excited, boy. That won't happen again. In fact, pretty soon, we're gonna be out of here and then I'm going to let you watch as I slaughter your family and everyone you care about."

"Try it, bitch," Dean snarled. "I can't wait to see you fail."

Michael sneered. "Oh, I won't fail. Not this time." He stood and kicked Dean in the stomach for good measure before he strode out of the room, slamming the door firmly behind him.

He closed his eyes and reached out with angel radio.

"Naomi, you better be able to hear me."

It was a couple seconds but her voice came over the line. I'm here, Michael.

"I'm in the Winchesters' bunker. They think they have me trapped, but the warding is almost gone. I want you and Tamiel to come and distract them."

We're close by. We'll be there soon.

Michael smirked and ended the transmission. He glanced down at the fading glow of the sigils he was standing on, and the holy fire, which was beginning to burn out. Only a little bit longer now, and he would be free.

It wasn't long before Naomi contacted him again. We're outside. Do you want us to make our move?

Michael shrugged out of his overcoat. "Yes. Go now."

He could hear a thump from further in the bunker, and the crash of the door. The warding wouldn't hold for long.

He threw the coat over the fire and stepped across it, hissing slightly as it caught his wings on the way out. No matter though, a few singed feathers were a small price to pay for freedom.

He smirked as he slammed his heel into the door and it gave instantly.

"It's showtime, Dean," he said. "Let's see how your brother's blood feels on your hands."

~~~~~~~

Sam and Cas were startled from their companionable silence as a loud crash came from the main part of the bunker. They both leapt to their feet and reached for weapons.

"What is that?" Sam demanded.

Cas' face darkened. "We have company."

They rushed out of the room to go help the others, when a crash from further down the hall caught their attention. The two men turned to each other, wide-eyed.

"Michael," Sam breathed.

Cas looked torn, but nodded down the hall. "Let's go, the others will be able to handle themselves."

They raced down the hallway, but skidded to a stop as soon as a figure loomed out of the darkness. Warnings began to go off in the bunker as the warding failed, and red lights began to flash, giving Michael, in Dean's body an eerie look as he strode toward them. Sam couldn't help but remember when his brother had chased him through the halls with a hammer when he had been a demon. He wasn't sure what was worse.

Michael's eyes flashed blue and he raised a hand.

"Sam, get down!" Cas cried and yanked him to one side as a blinding bolt of energy slammed into the wall, taking out more of the warding.

Cas pushed in front of Sam, his angel blade held at the ready.

Michael laughed derisively. "Please, little angel. I could swat you like a fly if I wanted to. But I'll settle for taking you with me. And wayward Gabriel too; Naomi is adamant that we should have no more angelic deaths. Though, I would hazard a guess that you'd probably rather be dead than face what she has in store for you once she gets you back into Heaven."

Cas lunged, fury and desperation on his face, and slashed out with his blade, but Michael simply grabbed his wrist, twisted until a snap was heard and threw Cas to the floor in front of Sam as he cried out in pain.

"Cas!" Sam cried, crouching down and getting a hand under Cas' shoulder to help him to his feet while simultaneously pulling him backwards.

"Come on, Sam, if you give up, I'll promise to make your death swift. I won't even make Dean watch," Michael said, holding his hands out. "But if you fight, this is gonna get ugly."

"Bite me," Sam snapped.

Michael smirked. "Challenge accepted."

He threw a hand out, and a force slammed into Cas, tearing him from Sam's grasp and throwing him against the wall. Sam backed up a step before Michael was suddenly on him. The archangel wearing his brother slammed a punishing fist into Sam's face, instantly throwing him to his knees. A foot buried itself into his stomach, forcing all his breath out in a whoosh. Another blow to the side of the head had Sam all the way down; he could taste blood in his mouth and his vision was blacking out, cheek pressed to the concrete floor. He grunted, trying to push himself up onto his elbows, but Michael's boot connected with his ribs and Sam felt a sickening crack there. He let out a breathless scream.

Michael bent and grabbed a fistful of his hair, hauling his upper body from the ground and standing behind him, gripping his jaw as well in a vice-like hold.

"Goodbye, Sam Winchester," he hissed.

Sam felt Michael exert the pressure to snap his neck, but then it was suddenly gone, and there was an angry shout.

"Get away from him!"

Sam collapsed on the ground, gasping with pain from his busted ribs as he tried to haul himself upright.

He caught sight of Jack grappling Michael onto the ground, but the boy, without his powers and with only an angel blade, was no match for the archangel. He scored one hit on Michael's upper arm, before the archangel got his feet between them and kicked Jack in the chest, throwing him backwards against the wall.

He was on him before Jack could recover. Michael grabbed the boy by the throat and slammed him back against the wall, sliding him up so that his feet were dangling above the ground.

"You've crossed me for the last time, boy," Michael snarled.

Jack choked, grasping weakly at Michael's hands, his legs kicking.

Sam glanced over at Cas who was stirring, but the angel couldn't do anything. Sam forced himself onto his hands and knees though the movement was agony. Something dug into the skin of his lower back. The only plan he had left.

"Sam," Jack gasped out. "H-help."

Sam's breath caught in his throat, reaching back to grasp the hilt of the gold archangel blade. A sickness settled into the pit of his stomach with the thought, and he almost threw it away, but he saw Jack's eyes roll up into his head, his hands falling limply to his sides as Michael choked the life from him and Sam couldn't let that happen. Dean wouldn't want him to let that happen. Jack was family too.

So Sam forced himself to his feet, and before he could think too much about it, he lunged forward and plunged the blade into his possessed brother's stomach.


	7. Chapter 7

Dean was frantic. Michael had opened a window of sorts so that he could see what was going on, but it was a terrible, disconcerting feeling to watch what was happening outside of your body when someone else was controlling it. Especially when they were out to kill everyone you loved.

Dean struggled against his chains, only resulting in making them tighten around him painfully. Michael had gagged him again so he could only make unintelligible noises.

He watched helplessly as Michael beat Sammy into the floor and then prepared to snap his neck. He couldn't believe this was happening. He strained against the chains with everything he had but was unable to move them. Michael must really have beefed up security after the last time.

And then Jack came flying out of nowhere, body-slamming Michael. The impact took the archangel down for only a second before he had the kid against the wall, choking him out. He forced Dean to watch Jack's face turn purple from lack of oxygen, his gasps for breath as his struggles became weaker and weaker.

And then Michael spun to look to one side, and Dean saw Sam there, a flash of metal, and then Dean felt the pain rip through his body. He screamed into his gag, and felt Michael stagger back.

"No," Michael snarled. "No!"

A second later, they crashed to the ground and Michael was slamming through the door to Dean's prison, staggering toward the captive Winchester. Blood appeared, leaking through his shirt along with frantically glowing grace, and he was snarling. Oddly, Dean felt a wet spot in the same place on his side.

"Don't think this changes anything," he growled as he bent and began working on Dean's chains, loosening them. "I'll be back, and I'll kill all of you. If you're still alive by then, that is."

The manacles unlocked themselves and Dean weakly snagged the gag from his mouth, making a helpless lurch toward Michael before the archangel staggered back out of the room.

There was a blinding light, and Dean found himself screaming. Before he knew what was going on, the dissociative feeling of weightlessness that had overcome him as soon as Michael took him over disappeared, and he was slammed back into his body. Everything hurt, but the pain emanated most from his stomach, and he cautiously brought a hand up, brushing against a blade, the archangel blade, sticking out of him. The slight touch brought the pain of frayed nerve endings and he nearly passed out again.

But first, he saw several figures crouching nearby watching him cautiously. One closer than the others leaning over him, with familiar too-long hair and hazel eyes.

"Sammy?" he croaked, reaching out to his brother, but he already felt himself slipping away.

~~~~~~~

It all happened so fast. Sam felt the blade sink into his brother's flesh and then he staggered back a step as Michael spun around, eyes furious with disbelief.

"No," he growled, staggering to one knee. Jack slumped lifeless to the ground and Cas was already crawling over to him to pull the boy away from the archangel, but his eyes were on Michael, wide and worried.

A couple seconds later, a bright bluish white stream flew from Dean's mouth and tore off down the hallway.

Sam and Cas were barely over the shock of registering that they had actually done it, before a horrible sound of pain escaped Dean's throat and he collapsed the rest of the way onto the ground, his hand fluttering up to brush the blade still sticking from him.

"Dean, Dean, don't, it's okay, you'll be okay," Sam coaxed, crawling the few feet to his brother and pushing his hand down to the side. "Oh god."

"S'mmy," Dean mumbled, eyes glassy. Blood was soaking quickly through the white shirt and stupid waistcoat Michael had dressed Dean in and Sam was already tearing his flannel overshirt off before Dean choked on something and blood spattered his lips. Sam felt sick.

"Just relax, Dean, it will be over in a second," Sam promised, and cast a look over to Cas who was right behind him, watching over his shoulder while he coaxed Jack back to consciousness. The boy had livid bruising around his throat, but he seemed to be okay otherwise.

"Sam," Cas said, and glanced worriedly up the corridor where they could hear sounds from the room where Michael's old vessel was.

Sam bit his lip almost to bleeding, and took hold of the archangel blade and pulled it from Dean as carefully as possible.

His brother's scream tore him apart, but as soon as he had the blade free, he let it clatter onto the floor and pressed the pad he had made of his shirt over the wound, pressing down.

"You'll be okay, Dean. Just hold on," he murmured over and over again.

Cas crawled to his feet, picking the blade up, still dripping with Dean's blood. "Stay here, I'll end this."

"Castiel!" Jack cried, but Sam grabbed his shirtsleeve to keep him down.

"I need you here, Jack, help me with Dean," he said, even though the only thing they could do now was keep pressure on the wound until Cas or Gabriel could heal him.

Sam could still hear the sounds of fighting in the direction of the bunker's entrance. Where the hell were Mom, Gabriel and Rowena anyway?!

"Jack, where are the others?" he asked.

"More angels came," Jack said. "They were fighting them, but I came to see if you and Castiel were okay."

Sam opened his mouth to reply, but then he saw Cas fly out of the room down the hall and slam into the wall with a grunt.

Michael strode out of the room in his old vessel, looking a bit worse for wear, but he'd somehow broken out of the chains. Sam tensed.

"Cas!" he cried as the angel crawled several feet away to grab the blade again, and scrambled back to his feet.

"You can run, but the result will still be the same," Michael taunted, taking a couple quick steps forward the kicking Cas under the chin with a roundhouse kick, flinging him onto his back. "You're all going to die." He lifted his hands and Cas was yanked from the ground and slammed into the wall, falling limply to the ground. He didn't get back up.

"Castiel!" Jack screamed and was on his feet before Sam could stop him.

"Jack no!" he tried but the boy had already skidded across the floor to pick up the dropped archangel blade and held it in front of him as Michael smirked and stalked toward him.

"You really want to try this again, boy?" he taunted.

Jack set his jaw and lunged forward, actually seeming to surprise Michael, because he scored a hit to his shoulder. Michael stepped back, then swatted Jack into the wall with the back of his hand. Jack slumped to his knees, lip bleeding, but was getting back up.

Sam was terrified, unable to leave Dean's side lest he bleed out, but hating to watch what would be the inevitable outcome of Jack's fight with Michael.

"Come on, son, is that all you have?" Michael leered again.

Jack gave a cry and lunged forward. Michael simply sidestepped, grabbing the back of Jack's shirt and flinging him against the wall face first. Jack hit hard, the breath knocked from his body. Blood streamed from what looked like a broken nose.

Footsteps came running down the hall then, and Rowena, Mom, and Gabriel appeared, looking a little worse for wear, but they took in the scene in an instant.

"Oh god, Dean," Mom cried and collapsed next to Sam, ditching the Enochian brass knuckles she was wearing, and cupped the side of Dean's pale face, glancing up at Sam. He didn't have anything to say. He just turned back to Michael.

Rowena stepped forward, her hand stretched out in front of her. Her eyes glowed as she spat something and for a second it looked like Michael was frozen where he stood but he seemed to break free from whatever hold she had on him and step forward.

"Dammit," Rowena hissed and tried again.

Michael smirked as he took another step forward. "You really think a lowly witch like you could subdue me? What made you think your spells would work on something that came from that other world in the first place?"

Sam watched in horror as the archangel simply clenched a fist and Rowena began to choke. He flung her into the wall and she slumped, unconscious or worse.

Gabriel swiftly knelt beside her, hand on her forehead, and then stood grimly to face Michael.

"Ah, Gabriel, come to try me again," Michael greeted the other archangel mockingly, spreading his arms out to his sides. "Let's see if I can get your death to stick this time."

Gabriel strode forward with a nonchalant swagger and helped Jack to his feet before taking the archangel blade from the boy. "Please. I'm gonna mop the floor with you." And then he spoke a word in Enochian and threw up a hand, and Michael flew backwards, slamming against the wall. He looked surprised, trying to peel himself away, but Gabriel flicked his fingers again and he was shoved flat, pinned.

"What is this?" he demanded angrily.

"Call it a safeguard," Gabriel said mockingly. "In case you tried to, you know, screw us over. I put a few of my own touches into that spell."

Michael growled as Gabriel toyed with the archangel blade. "Time to say adios, brother."

He readied the blade, but Michael cried out and somehow pulled himself away from the wall. Runes sparked across his skin and he snarled in pain, but he staggered forward as Gabriel leapt back.

"Aw, shizzelsticks," Gabriel snarled.

Michael laughed and backhanded Gabriel, causing the archangel to stagger a couple steps before he was slashing with the blade. Michael dodged everything but a cut to the cheek, and threw a ball of energy at Gabriel. It took the other archangel in the chest and set him slamming against the wall. He recovered quickly, and they both threw several more blows at each other, Gabriel scoring a few more hits, but nothing vital.

Finally, though, Michael punched him right in the center of the chest and Gabriel folded with a gasp of pain. Michael kicked out, catching him under the chin and Gabriel fell to the floor, the blade skipping out of his hand.

Michael stepped forward and slammed his foot down against Gabriel's chest, causing the other archangel to groan and cough.

"I know Naomi wants me to keep you alive, but…I can't help but think that would just be poor judgment on my part. So…goodbye, Gabriel. Again."

Sam watched in helpless horror as Michael began to reach for the blade. He couldn't believe this had all gone so wrong.

Then a shout came and Jack barreled from where he had been slumped against the wall. He skidded on his knees and snagged the dagger right from under Michael's fingers and slammed it up into the archangel's chest. Right in the heart.

"Stay away from my family!" the boy snarled as he gave the blade one, vicious twist.

Michael staggered backwards, eyes sparking, and then his whole body looked like it began to crack at the seems, the already stressed vessel seeming to fall apart before their eyes under the strain.

And then Michael exploded in a burst of white light and Sam shielded his eyes against it. When he looked again, there was just Michael's dead vessel lying on the ground amid the smoldering outlines of his wings burned into the floor and the walls.

Silence fell. Sam and his mother were still doing everything they could to keep Dean's blood inside of him, Rowena was on her feet already with a haunted look, and Cas was finally coming to with a groan as he pulled himself into a sitting position. Jack was still kneeling on the ground, panting. Gabriel sat up and clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Good job, kiddo. You did a good job," the archangel told him. Jack leaned against him and Gabriel, looking slightly surprised, settled an arm around her shoulders, pulling his nephew closer.

Sam finally allowed himself to exhale, and then a small sound like a whimper escaped from Dean's throat and Sam was slammed back into the reality of the moment. They were not at all free yet.

"Cas," he called.

The angel shook himself and staggered over to them. Mom moved out of the way reluctantly, and Sam glanced up at his friend's face as Cas settled a hand on Dean's forehead, his brow creasing with a pained look.

"Can you heal him?" Sam pleaded.

"Move your hand," Cas told him and Sam bit his lip as he pulled the blood-soaked flannel away from the wound and watched only more blood well up. Cas ripped open the buttons of the shirt and waistcoat and revealed the deep wound in Dean's abdomen. He settled a hand over it, and closed his eyes. A warm glow appeared under his palm, and Cas looked like he was concentrating hard, but the wound was barely getting smaller.

"Cas?" Sam asked worriedly. This was not normal.

Cas looked like he was struggling and he finally grunted out, "Gabriel…help, I don't…I don't have enough strength right now."

The archangel left Jack and crouched next to his younger brother. "We should still have enough between us," he said and settled his hand over top of Cas'.

The healing light increased and Sam watched as the wound finally closed. The angels both looked exhausted after they had finished, and Sam turned anxiously toward Dean who still lay there pale and limp.

"What's wrong with him?" Jack asked. "His wound is healed; why won't he wake up?"

"He'll need some time to recover," Cas said wearily. "Michael abused his soul directly. It won't leave lasting damage, but he will need rest."

"Let's get him into bed, then," Sam said, and he and Cas lifted Dean between them. Thankfully, it wasn't far to Dean's room.

"Meet us in the war room," Gabriel said. "We have some decisions to make."

Sam nodded and he and Cas carried their precious cargo to Dean's room and laid him gently on the bed. His own body was starting to ache monumentally again now that the adrenaline had worn off. He hissed as he bent and his cracked ribs protested.

"Sam, let me help you," Cas said, reading out, but Sam shook his head.

"No, Cas, wait until you recover too. I'll be fine for a few hours."

Cas didn't look convinced, but Sam gave him little choice. He turned back to the bed, and began relieving Dean of the bloodstained clothes while Cas went to get a wet cloth to wipe the excess blood from Dean's skin.

Before long they had cleaned him up and dressed him in his sleep clothes. Sam pulled the blankets up securely around Dean's shoulders, tucking them in slightly. He was somewhat worried about what Cas had said, and Dean still looked terrible, pallid and with dark circles under his eyes, but all they could do now was let him rest.

"We did it, Cas," Sam said quietly as the angel stood at his shoulder.

"Yes, we did," he said, relief obvious in his voice.

Sam didn't want to leave him at all, but it would only be for a little while and they needed to see what Gabriel had to say.

When they got to the war room, Gabriel, Rowena, Jack, and Mom were standing around in a half circle; meanwhile, there were two figures sitting against the console on one side of the room: Naomi and another angel. They were both chained with Enochian cuffs and, especially Naomi didn't look happy about this at all.

"Let us go!" She demanded. "We can work together, Gabriel!"

The archangel folded his arms across his chest with a small snort. "Oh yeah? And yet, a few minutes ago, you were trying to kill us."

"Not you, just the Winchesters, but with Michael dead, we can make a new plan," the angel tried.

Cas shouldered past Sam, and the younger Winchester reached out to stop him, but his friend stopped beside his older brother anyway, glaring down with pure hatred toward Naomi.

"No, there will be no plans involving you," he said firmly. "If Heaven wasn't in such dire straits right now, I would stab you through the throat with my blade and be done with it." Sam felt a smug smirk start over his lips as he saw Naomi blanch, her eyes widen, at Cas' proclamation. "After everything you've done to Heaven, to me and my family, that's all you deserve."

"But you can't," she snapped back, almost gleefully. "Heaven can't lose more angels."

"No," Gabriel agreed, cocking his head to one side and flicking his gaze at Cas. "But, you did have a plan for Cas here, obviously. Something like spare batteries?" They all watched Naomi's face pale. "I don't have to kill you to make you suffer, Naomi. You can spend eternity up in Heaven, locked up and fueling it just like you want." He stepped over to her and leaned down to speak directly into her ear. "And while we're there, I'm gonna have a nice long look into that twisted brain of yours to see just what you've done to the other angels. If I find you've done lasting damage to some of my favorite younger siblings, well, I can make your life hell."

Naomi paled even more as Gabriel pulled back. She glared defiantly at him.

"You're making a mistake," she growled.

Gabriel snorted. "No. I'm really not."

Cas turned to the other angel. "Tamiel, do you have any loyalty to her?"

The angel snorted and glowered, but his look was directed at Naomi. "You know she was in all our heads, Castiel. I'll be just as glad to see her put away as you are. In fact, I'll do it for you myself."

Cas turned to Gabriel with a look. "You can unchain him. I believe him."

Gabriel held Cas' gaze, before he nodded and went to unlock the second angel. Tamiel stood, and rubbed his wrists. He bent to grab Naomi by the arm, hauling her to her feet. "What do you want to do, Gabriel?"

Gabriel turned to the others. "I'm going to Heaven for a little while. Make sure Naomi stays put, and start a game plan on how to improve everything. It will help me heal quicker too. And once I'm back to full power, maybe I can crack the secret of how Dad made angels."

Cas nodded. "That's probably a good plan."

Gabriel turned to the others with a smirk. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna stay away long. I'll come and check in."

"Thanks for everything," Sam said. "I know you didn't have to help us…"

"Please, Samsquatch," Gabriel replied. "I'm part of the team now, right?"

"Yes, you are," Cas said and stepped forward to embrace his brother. "Do you need me to go with you?"

Gabriel shook his head. "Nah, you belong here, kiddo. Tell Dean I said hi when he wakes up." He turned to Jack and stepped toward him, ruffling his hair gently. "You did good kid."

Jack actually smiled a bit. "Thanks."

"We'll hang out sometime, actually get to know each other better," Gabriel told him. "I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to be the one to teach you anything fun around here."

"Ah…" Sam cut in, as Cas also opened his mouth but Gabriel winked at the boy before turning to Rowena.

"And for you, sweetheart, I'm only a call away." He leaned in to kiss her, and then pulled back waggling his brows as Rowena let out a swoony sigh.

Gabriel went to take Naomi's other arm so he and Tamiel held her between them. He pointed to Cas. "Call me if you need anything, little bro."

Cas smiled and nodded. "I will."

Gabriel smiled and shrugged. "Well, see ya all later then."

Then with a flap of wings, he disappeared with the other angels.

Sam turned to Cas. "You think he'll be okay up there?"

Cas nodded confidently. "I think Gabriel is going to be a better leader than he believes himself to be," Cas said. "He's certainly better than anyone we've had for a long time."

Sam huffed. "Yeah, that's definitely true."

Mom came over to them. "Is Dean all settled?"

Sam nodded. "He's resting right now, Cas says we should let him sleep for a while. But, knowing from experience, he'll probably be starving when he gets up."

"Can we get pizza?" Jack asked.

Sam, Cas and his mother all shared a small smile. "Yeah, I think we can get pizza," Sam told him.

"How about you and me go into town, Jack?" Mom asked. "Just…change your shirt first."

Jack headed off to the dormitory ward, and Sam turned to Rowena who had moved to packing her stuff.

"Leaving?" he asked.

"Och, you know, I have plenty of things to do. I wasn't exactly just sitting around when you called me," she said.

"You sure you don't want to stay for dinner?" Sam asked her.

Rowena wrinkled her nose. "Pizza? No thank you. However, if you did decide to take a lady out to an actual restaurant as a thanks for services rendered at a later date, I wouldn't say no."

Sam smiled slightly with a small amused huff. "It's a deal."

She beamed, and gathered up her bag, heading toward the stairs.

"Rowena," Sam called, and she turned, questioningly. "Thank you. Really."

"Oh, my my," she said cheekily. "A thanks from a Winchester. I don't quite know what to say."

Sam chuckled and watched her go before turning back toward the dormitory ward.

Mom and Jack were leaving to get the pizza, but Sam was going to sit with his brother for a while.

He found Cas already there, standing at the side of the bed. Sam nodded to the desk chair and then pulled another one over and he and Cas both sat at Dean's bedside.

Neither of them said anything, but they didn't need to. They had Dean back now, they had saved the world again, and for the moment, that was all that mattered.


	8. Chapter 8

Dean felt himself waking up and almost didn't want to. Even drifting in a half awake state, he was unsure of what he would wake to. At the moment, he couldn't really remember anything from before, but he knew there had been bad stuff going on and he wasn't really thrilled with the idea of facing that.

But as his body seemed to insist on waking, he began to become more aware of his surroundings. He was lying on something soft, something warm tucked around him. He had a slight moment of panic as he thought he couldn't move, but then shifted his arm to one side, feeling the slide of sheets and blanket against his skin instead of the resistance of chains.

He blinked his eyes open.

His vision was bleary at first, but once it cleared, he saw he was in his room, back home at the bunker.

He closed his eyes again with relief, and brought a hand up to his stomach where he remembered pain, but there was nothing there, not even bandages. He took stock of the rest of his body. He was sore, tired, but seemed to be okay otherwise.

Memories suddenly flooded back, and he jerked into a sitting position with a gasp. The movement made him lightheaded, but he was certain of only one thing and that was all that mattered.

Michael was no longer inside of him. He was free.

"Dean!"

A shuffling came from one side of the bed and he turned to see Sam starting from a chair and moving to the side of the bed, grabbing his shoulder.

"Dean, are you okay?" he asked, eyes full of concern, and yet overwhelmed with relief.

Dean took several deep breaths to pull more oxygen into his body as his vision cleared again and focused on his brother. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I am."

Sam gave a wan smile and then simply pulled Dean into a firm embrace. Dean grunted slightly, but happily returned the hug. He was just as glad to be back as he knew Sam probably was to have him there. Just feeling the sensation of his arms around his brother, his fingers curling into the material of Sam's shirt, and the scent of that fancy shampoo Sam used assaulting his nose from where he had his face pressed against his brother's neck…all these sensations seemed to ground him, let him know his body was his once again.

Sam finally pulled back, sniffing slightly. "You've been asleep for almost two days. Cas said you would need time to recover, but we were getting a little worried."

Dean smiled. "Well, I feel okay now. Little tired, but I don't think I'm dying." He sobered as he saw Sam's face, and then asked. "Michael?"

"Dead," Sam told him firmly.

"What about everyone else? They okay?" Dean asked, glancing toward the door worriedly.

Sam smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, they're all fine. They'll be glad you're awake. Jack is even adjusting better, Cas and I are teaching him how to fight. Oh, and Gabriel is up running Heaven now."

Dean frowned. "Gabe?"

"Yeah, he's not actually dead."

Dean snorted. He should have known better than to trust any death scene that involved the former trickster. "Figures. Glad to hear it, though."

He was interrupted as his stomach growled and he suddenly realized just how hungry he was. "Oh god, I'm starving."

Sam chuckled and stood from the bed. "Yeah. Possession will do that to you. You feel up to getting out of bed?"

Dean stood with Sam's help and wobbled slightly, somewhat dizzy on his feet, but he made it out the door and toward the kitchen and only had to use Sam's shoulder to steady himself a couple times.

When they got to the kitchen, Mom was there pouring a cup of coffee.

"Hey Mom, look who's up," Sam said.

Mom glanced up with a relieved smile. "Dean!" She came forward and hugged him tightly. He leaned over to rest his chin on her shoulder for a long moment. He probably wasn't going to get over being back in control of his own body for a while.

"Hey, Mom," he said softly.

"Dean!"

He turned around as soon as Mom had released him and was instantly embraced by Jack. He staggered slightly, but chuckled, returning the kid's hug and pressing a hand to the back of his head before ruffling his hair slightly.

"Hey, kid, I'm glad to see you're doing okay."

"You too, Dean."

Dean looked up and saw Cas next who pulled Dean firmly into another hug after Jack had released him. Dean sagged against his best friend for a moment before Cas pushed him back to arm's length.

"Don't you ever do that again," the angel ground out.

Dean swallowed hard. "I'm not planning on it."

Cas' face softened then and he gripped Dean's shoulder tighter. "It's good to have you back."

They all proceeded to treat Dean like a king. Making sure he was comfortable at the table and bringing him food.

Once Dean had wolfed down two sandwiches and three glasses of water, he felt a little more energy spring up inside of him, but he still figured it would be a couple more days before he was going to be fully recovered. Really, he just wanted to go back to bed, even though he'd apparently slept for the better part of two days. He still wasn't completely sure of what had happened. Thought they were probably waiting for him to recover to bring it up, but he supposed that it didn't really matter. Everyone was safe, alive. And the world didn't seem to be broken so that was a plus.

Mom cast him a concerned look across the table. "You okay, Dean?"

He blinked, coming back to reality, and rubbing a hand across his forehead. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just, tired."

"It might take you a few days to feel…yourself again," Cas told him gently. "The binding spell, the injuries Michael gave you while you were trapped in your own body—those are not so simple for Gabriel and I to fix."

"Maybe you should go lay down again for a while, read or watch something," Sam suggested. "Trust me, I remember how exhausted I was after Gadreel."

Dean consented, mainly because he was really too tired to put up much of an argument. Besides, how many times did he really get the opportunity to lay in bed all day?

"Alright, fine." He staggered a little getting up from the table, and everyone surged to their feet to help him.

Dean huffed in annoyance. "This though, has to stop. Look, guys, I'm back, and I'm freakin' thrilled, but I'm still me—well, I am now. I'm not just gonna fall apart on you, I've taken worse hits."

Sam pressed his lips together, but stepped back. "I know. Just get some rest, Dean. Jack, how about we go do some more training?"

The ex-nephillim went off with Sam, and Cas took Dean's elbow to steady him back to his room. Dean rolled his eyes, but he allowed the angel that much. He knew he wasn't any better when his family had been hurt.

They made it back to his room and Dean collapsed onto his bed, unable to help a sigh of relief as it cushioned his achy body.

Cas stood by the bed, looking down at him, making no move to leave. "Dean, may I assess your healing?"

Dean rolled his eyes slightly again, but figured Cas wasn't going to leave until he humored him. "Fine, go ahead."

Cas pressed a hand to his forehead and Dean felt the slight warmth of grace spark through his body. Cas pulled away after a long moment but looked satisfied.

"The damage Michael did is almost completely gone. You'll be fully recovered within a few more days as long as you don't insist on going right back out hunting again."

Dean snorted. "I think I'm gonna enjoy taking a couple sick days to relax. After all, I haven't really gotten a chance to use the Fortress of Deanitude yet."

Cas looked confused, but didn't comment. Dean thought of the discussion he'd had with Sam, that seemed so long ago now, about retirement and what they would do if they knew the world was safe. He knew it wasn't going to happen soon, maybe not even in their lifetime, but…maybe they didn't have to give up on that dream entirely. Maybe they could take some time off every once in a while. Go to the beach for a vacation. That at least, they had earned in spades.

But right now, he was going to rest.

Except there was still an angel standing beside his bed, watching him.

Dean shifted to sit up against his pillows and cocked an eyebrow at his friend. What's on your mind, Cas?"

The angel was silent for a long moment, but then he finally opened his mouth to speak. "Dean…look, I understand why you said yes to Michael, but…you can't just be the only one to make those decisions, you can't just throw your life away."

Dean furrowed his brow, unable to help feeling a little defensive. "Like you did with Lucifer?"

"Exactly," Cas stated firmly. "Which you called me out for, saying that we couldn't do things like that anymore. That applies to you too, Dean."

"Well, yeah, but—" Dean stopped as he saw the almost stricken look on Cas' face. The angel shifted uncomfortably, jaw tight as he seemed to be searching for the right words to say. "Cas, what is it, man?"

"Do you remember why I rebelled, Dean?" Cas asked him finally.

Dean cocked his head to one side. "Yeah, because the angels were wrong and you didn't want any part of that."

Cas shook his head. "No, because you showed me that there was something wrong. That there was another way, that destiny didn't have to be written in stone. Because the man who had been destined all his life for the purpose of being a vessel of Heaven, stood up and said he was not going to do it. That he was going to find another way, a better way, to save the world. I believed in you then, and for good reason, you and Sam stopped the apocalypse from happening at all. And so you have to see why it pains me so much now to have seen you simply say yes to Michael—another Michael, yes, another situation and years later, but it was so easy for you to make that decision."

"Sam and Jack were in trouble, I—" he started but Cas cut him off, his fist clenching.

"After everything, you still ended up doing the one thing you promised never to do. And you didn't even give it a second thought." Dean watched his friend as Cas spoke, obviously saying something he'd been holding in this whole time. "You were gone and there was nothing I could do about it. It made me wonder whether there was any reason for defying destiny at all. Whether it doesn't matter; if the past will catch up to you anyway, no matter what path you choose."

"Cas," Dean said quietly, and then rubbed a hand over his face, not sure what to say. "Man, you know I don't regret what I did, just the consequences of what happened."

"I know," Cas replied blandly. "I would never have expected you to. I guess I just feel that if we can't even stop this, then what else can we not stop? These, unnamed 'cosmic consequences' Billie warned of, Heaven's inevitable demise…we've always tried to help people, but how can we if what we do only causes more harm than anything?"

Dean swallowed hard, knowing that Cas had a valid point, but at the same time, he wondered how much of themselves they could really hope to change? After all, none of them had ever done anything stupid or bad for the wrong reasons. Their actions may have been slightly misdirected, but they were all with the best of intentions.

"Cas," Dean spoke up quietly, seeing how tense his friend was. "We've all been there, you know that. We've all felt like what we do does more harm than good, but at the end of the day, the world is still here, and that's really only because of what we've done. Even now, we stopped Michael from destroying the world again." Maybe even partly because Dean had said yes, but he didn't want to actually mention that out loud to Cas right now. "And Lucifer is dead for good." He swallowed hard, and gave a firm nod, remembering the blatant look of relief in Sam's eyes when he realized what Dean had done. That was actually the last thing he had seen before Michael took him over completely and it had kind of made the whole, messy, situation worth it. "I can't see that as a bad thing." Cas sagged a little, his eyes showing relief as well. "And you even saved me without causing any other cosmic consequences."

Cas nodded, shifting slightly. "And it turned out all right this time, but what if next time it doesn't? We can't keep taking these chances, especially unnecessarily. I can't watch my family sacrifice themselves anymore. When I said before that I would do anything necessary to protect the people I love…" he shook his head and glanced up, emotion heavy in his eyes. "Sometimes, it scares me, the extents I will go to."

Dean nodded in agreement. "I know, Cas," Dean said. "It scares me too." He looked up at his friend and reached out to grip his arm so Cas turned back to him. "And for the record, man, I am sorry for what I had to do. I'm sorry you had to be the one to watch that."

The anger seemed to finally ease out of Cas, and a small wry smile appeared on his lips. "I know." He returned Dean's grip until they were both gripping each other's forearms in a warrior-like grasp. "I'm glad to have you back, Dean."

Dean smiled back and squeezed once before releasing Cas, lying back on the bed. "Glad to be back."

"You should rest," Cas said firmly. "You need to get your strength back."

Dean didn't protest, simply huffed and watched his friend leave the room.

Soon his eyes closed and he was out.

~~~~~~~~

Sam woke him later to join them for supper. He'd gone to get Dean a bacon cheeseburger with chili fries and Dean grinned in thanks as he eagerly dug into the food.

During dinner, they chatted casually, and Jack told him about how Sam and Cas were training him how to use weapons now.

"He's a crack shot," Sam said, with a proud smile.

"He's getting better at hand to hand too," Cas added as Jack ducked his head with a shrug, but a small smile on his face.

Dean grinned. "Oh yeah? Well, when I'm back in shape, you and I will have to do some sparring. I'll teach you a few moves these two probably wouldn't think of. After all, in the heat of battle, you can't always fight fair."

"Already taught him those," Mom spoke up with a small smirk. Dean grinned. He wasn't exactly surprised.

When he was finished he pushed himself up from the table, still a little wobbly, but not as dizzy as before. His nap and all the food had made him feel a little better. "What do you say we have a movie night? Who's gonna make the popcorn?"

"I will," Sam said with a smile.

Jack eagerly perked up. "Can we watch Star Wars?"

Dean grinned, but reached out to ruffle the boy's hair. "Sure kid, that sounds good."

They all gathered into Dean's entertainment room, munching popcorn and discussing the movies together, and Dean looked around at his family, feeling glad to be back. Sam caught his eye during the movie and smiled and Dean nodded back.

Once it was over, he was slightly put out to find himself ready to sleep again, but Cas had assured him this is how he would feel for a few days still. And he did remember Sam always conking out after the Gadreel debacle so figured it was normal for angelic possession rehab. Plus Michael was an archangel and had beaten the crap out of his soul, so…yeah, he was entitled to being tired.

He smiled fondly over at Jack who had already fallen asleep against Sam's shoulder, looking even younger than he usually did. Dean hoped he would sleep well tonight, no nightmares.

Mom rose from her seat and leaned over Dean, stroking his hair and kissing his cheek. "I'm off to bed. I'm glad you're feeling better, honey."

Dean felt warmth fill him like it always did with the realization that he actually had his mother back.

"I guess we should probably be getting to bed too," Dean said, and glanced at Jack with a smirk. "You gonna carry him to his room?"

Sam glanced down at the ex-nephillim, and smiled fondly. "I don't want to disturb him. He hasn't slept well for a while."

"I've got him," Cas said and stood up, moving over to stoop beside the couch and surprised them by gently sliding his arms underneath Jack to lift him effortlessly. Jack snuffled slightly but didn't wake.

Dean felt partly responsible for Jack not sleeping well. He knew Sam and Mom probably hadn't slept either.

Sam's eyes were on him, seeming to see the inner turmoil. His gaze softened. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Dean sighed, and rubbed a hand over his face. "Sammy, I just…I'm not going to apologize for what I did, because it felt like the only option, and Lucifer is dead, and in my book, that's a win. But I am sorry for what I put you through, and hell, I know."

Sam nodded. "I know you understand, Dean, and I know this probably won't be the last time something like this happens either. But…I don't know, maybe it's time to reevaluate our mission again."

"I was thinking the same thing," Dean agreed. "Look, bottom line, we're family. We're never going to be able to let each other go, it's always going to hurt to see someone do something that could get one of us killed. But I think we need to have a new rule. We all make tough decisions together. No working behind each other's backs, no running off, desperate, and doing things we're gonna regret later." Cas came back into the room, leaning against the doorjamb to listen and Dean nodded to him and Sam both. "We'll protect each other like always, but…I know, I know that involves trust too. Fighting shoulder to shoulder instead of pushing everyone else aside just to keep them safe. I mean, hell, we're all warriors; we need to put up a united front to protect the people who can't protect themselves."

Sam smiled. "Like you've said before, Dean, we're stronger together."

"And I need to remember that," Dean said wryly. "It was my rule, after all."

"And who knows what the future holds," Cas added. "Perhaps someday, we won't have to fight anymore."

"But until then," Dean said, looking between his brothers, "We keep doing what we always have done. Saving people."

They were silent for a long moment before Cas took a deep breath and said. "Perhaps we can also promise not to do things without the other's knowledge. Always go into battle together unless we can't avoid it."

"Have each other's backs," Sam added.

Dean nodded. "And that's our new policy. Always have each others' backs. Unless you're going to do something monumentally stupid."

Sam and Cas both snorted, but they smiled too. "Yeah, then we do what we can to stop that from happening."

Dean glanced between his brothers, eyebrows raised. "So we good?"

"Of course, Dean," Cas replied sincerely.

Sam smiled and nodded and then Dean was unable to help a yawn. Sam chuckled.

"Looks like you need to get to bed too. Need me to carry you?"

"Shut up," Dean grumbled good-naturedly. "Your old bones couldn't handle me."

"Damn straight, not with all the burgers and pie you eat," Sam retorted.

Dean glared at him indignantly. "Okay, one, I'm not going to apologize for my diet, and two, when was the last time I had to buy a new size of jeans?"

"Oh, so you're not counting the number of times you've had to let your belt out a hole?"

"Bitch," Dean snapped.

"Jerk," Sam replied instantly. Cas watched with a fond smile as he stood up.

"I'm going to go check on Jack. Sleep well, Dean."

Dean nodded and couldn't help the small smile flitting over his face. Sam smiled back and his eyes told what he was really thinking. "I'm glad to have you back, man."

Dean leaned back in his chair, looking around at his little spot of comfort, of home, knowing that no matter what happened in the future, he would have a place and people where he could go to escape the horrors of the world at least for a while.

"I'm glad to be back," he said and then closed his eyes, looking forward to a little rest before they all had to get back to work.

After all, they couldn't retire quite yet; there were still people to save.


End file.
